Standing Trial for your Sins
by satinae
Summary: "I don't know why you hate love so much," He said. "It's because I've hurt everyone I've ever cared about, Sean. I refuse to fall in love," She frowned but he smirked, "June, that's not really something you get to decide." X-Men:First Class / Banshee/OC
1. I: Julia the Magician

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**A/N: **_HI GUYS! So I fell in love with Banshee the moment I saw him in X-men and just had to write a fanfic, I just had to. I'm super excited to write this and I'm just bursting with ideas, I'll still be continuing my other story though, so no worries! :D_

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own any X-men Characters or anything affiliated with X-men, but June LaClaire is an original character. Thanks!_

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><p>"This is your last chance, Julia." He folded his hands across his stomach, a look crossed his face, but she couldn't tell what it was. Disgust? Disappointment? Frustration? Maybe all of it at once. Maybe even relief at an opportunity to get rid of her.<p>

"H-he was being rude! He was mocking m-"

"I don't care!" He bellowed, sitting up in his rickety desk chair, struggling to sit upright with his beer gut in his way. He leaned slightly forward, elbows on the edge of the desk with a stern look on his face.

"They are customers, and as long as you want to continue working here and you don't want me to call _animal control_ on you…" She stiffened, her jaw tightening clenching her fists in her lap, out of his line of sight. Her dark brown eyes glared at him behind thick glasses with hostility that was foreign to her soft look and usually gentle and calm face. Her long dark brown hair that had been tucked back in a neat bun had fallen in front of her face; it had come loose out of the clip that held it in place.

"…Then you will do as I say." He glared back at her with equal intensity, so intent on winning the mental battle that he didn't notice the papers and books on his desk begin to tremble, and slowly rise, floating off his desk as if gravity had no effect on them.

"Am I _clear_?" The fat man hissed, his greasy hair flopping about on his balding head. Suddenly the books and papers dropped to the ground with an abrupt 'thunk!', causing him to jump in surprise, clutching his heart more dramatically then necessary.

"_Yes_, sir." She stood up stiffly, pushing her chair back as she did so and nearly knocking the wobbling thing over as she stood still for just a moment. A dark look crossed her face as several pens began to drift out of their dusty mug on his desk. She reached out, grabbed them and slammed it down on his the edge with more force then necessary.

"Here you go, boss." She forced a smile, her voice like venom as she forced herself to calm down before she did something rash or got out of control. The brunette turned and walked out of the room, surprisingly composed although you could practically see her boiling in frustration. The door clicked awfully softly behind her for the seething rage she was feeling, she thought with a grimace. She leaned on the door, taking in a deep breath and trying to fill her tense lungs with air, only to get frustrated with being unable to.

"Bullshit, jerk, fatass…" A slew of profanity flowed from her lips underneath her breath as she turned and stalked down the hall, her head hung low with her fists gripping the end of her t-shirt so tight that it tugged down on her shoulders. She stopped as she came to a tall wall length mirror; it was ordered and custom made to be extra wide so her boss could see himself completely in it. She snickered to herself, and proceeded to take out the remainder of her bun, her long brown wavy locks of hair falling piece by piece over her shoulders. She had let it get pretty long now, about halfway down her back, and her bangs had also begun to grow out to the point that she could sweep the to them to one side and they suddenly became a side-swept fringe instead.

The lighting in the hall was dull and dim and constantly flickered but it would suffice. She tilted her head back, pulling her hair into a ponytail and then twisting it into a bun and pulling her loosening hair tie around it. She tilted her head forward again, turning her head side to side and analyzing herself in the mirror. On the other side of the dusty mirror was a tall lanky girl, dressed in a rather baggy t-shirt with light blue basketball shorts and beaten up sneakers. Not to mention the thick wire glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose, she was the epitome of a nerd or a "freak" right there. She looked like she was practically swimming in her clothes. Not the most attractive attire, but what did it matter? So what if she had a pretty face? It wasn't like she was trying to attract some boys so it didn't matter how she dressed.

"Julia!" The brunette spun around, startled by the abrupt shout from down the hall, where a curtain was lifted and a dark slim figure stepped in and waved her over.

"People are lining up at your event, go do your job!" She half hissed and half whispered, not in anger; but more like concern for her friend. The brunette nodded and jogged up to the blonde haired girl who, frankly, looked much prettier than herself and she would never admit it, but she was jealous. Maybe it was just the way she dressed; the showgirl outfit, or maybe it was her ethereal appearance, light blue eyes and pale blond hair with the freckles sprinkled lightly across her nose. In her mind, she looked plain in comparison to her friend.

"Thanks Anna, you're always looking out for me," She smiled at her friend, who just rolled her eyes and slapped her on the back to get her moving.

"Just get going you lazy bum. I need to take you shopping when we earn enough money, you look like a boy." Anna smirked and nodded towards the brunette's tent. But then she hesitated, and her friend noticed so she stopped and waited for her to explain. But Anna just smiled.

"It's John…" She meekly admitted, a faint blush quite visible across her pale face. The brunette sighed, crossing her arms in front of her in exasperation.

"I'm telling you, he's no good for you. He's only going to hurt you. I don't know why you like him so much."

"I don't like him, Julia, I _love_ him. And I can't help it, one day you'll understand," She smiled sadly at her friend, "You don't get to chose who you fall in love with. It's not an option."

The brunette frowned deeply at her, reaching out for her friend's hand and holding it in between both of hers. "I don't plan on falling in love with anyone, ever." She looked up with a decided smile on her face. This time it was Anna's turn to frown as she looked her friend in the eye and immediately noticed it, that faint ring of gold around her pupils right before she shut her eyes.

'_Think of something happy, think of something happy,'_

She could feel her arms, her hands tingling, like pins and needles when your legs fall asleep. And she tried her hardest, tried her hardest to feel happy because whatever it was that she did, she frankly didn't know what, she always managed to make her friend happy again just by feeling it herself. But she had to be in physical contact with her, she'd tried otherwise. It was just strange to her. Her brown eyes flickered open, the ring of gold quickly vanishing away and was proud to see that her friend looked better now, looked like the energetic, happy girl she usually was.

"Okay, I'm going to go now or Chester's gonna to fire me." The brown haired girl smiled at her friend, and they waved to each other before going their separate respective ways. She always went down a separate way from everyone else. As much as she didn't wish it was true, she was different from everyone else and it made her feel isolated, cold, and painfully lonely.

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><p>"Welcome~ I'm Julia, the gravitational magician!" She put on her best smile, standing up and clapping her hands to the side; starting her usual opening routine. Make the pen float, take it and give it to the little kid, or the old lady, or whoever it was that came in to try and 'expose her tricks'. They never succeeded and most just left amazed, others left scared and some wouldn't leave at all.<p>

"What's your name, little guy?" She asked as she seated herself again at the makeshift table, a crate with heavy red cloth haphazardly thrown over it. She sat cross legged on the floor atop a lumpy cushion in front of the little boy who had begun to take a seat as well on the opposite side of the crate. He had a big broad grin on his face, clutching the pen she had handed him.

"Tommy!" He chirped in delight, bringing a smile to her face. These were the kinds of kids she loved to work with.

"Well, Tommy, what would you like to see me make float?" She chirped back, propping her elbow up on the crate, and leaning her chin against the heel of her palm. He looked around, his little red head jerking to and from, his bright blue eyes wild with excitement. She couldn't help but notice all his freckles, across his face, on his arms. It was cute.

"The candles!" He pointed to the tray of candles at the side of the tent, which were placed there in an attempt to make the tent feel more mysterious. She smiled, glancing over at the candles and away from the little boy and his mother, who stood over him, looking just as excited but slightly less comfortable. She focused, feeling the familiar rippling feeling in her head, the same tingle as before all over her body, only gentler, calmer. Maybe because she had gotten so used to the sensation already.

That ring of gold began to appear around her pupil again, faint and difficult to see in the dim lighting, but it was there. In a couple more slow blinks and bounces of excitement from little Tommy, one by one, the candles began to float off the tray, surprisingly steady as they drifted to and fro, like little boats across rippling water. And suddenly they became still, and slowly they dropped back onto the tray as Tommy squealed in delight, clapping his hands together in amazement. But his mother, she just looked shocked; she looked scared. And those were the kind of looks that really hurt her the most when she first started working in the circus. That fear in the eyes of other people, or their taunting looks. It hit close to home each time, no matter how often it occurred. Which it did.

"Come on Tommy, we should go now, let this nice lady show the next customer," She said, tugging her little boy to his feet. She was trying to hide the franticness in her voice but it was bluntly visible and was like a slap across her face. Tommy whined a bit, but soon gave up at the offered prospect of cotton candy and in the blink of an eye, the two disappeared behind the curtain.

She sighed, running her hands through her hair in exhaustion, and breathing into her hands with disappointment, trying to shake it off. The curtains swung open again, and two men came in, surveying the tent quite briefly. The shorter of the two had his brown hair combed to the side in a rather aged hairdo, but still looked appropriate on his charming face with his overwhelmingly charming smile. He had on a light brown tweed jacket and meticulously ironed brown pants and those brown leather shoes, whatever they were called, she forgot. And the taller of the two looked slightly more intimidating with his strong bone structure and his dark brown hair combed back and out of his face. His black turtleneck hugged his figure quite closely and his gray pants were held up with a black belt, his black leather shoes squeaked as if they were just shined.

These were the kind of people she hated serving most; the kind that looked like skeptics and were out to try and embarrass and expose her. But she took in as deep of a breath as she could and she put up her act.

"Welco-!"

"Hi, I'm Charles Xavier," The shorter man flashed her a charming smile that suited his thick English accent, reaching his hand out for her to shake. She looked up at him, hesitant at first, but slowly, she lifted her hand to shake his. He nodded and stepped back, allowing for the taller man to step forward.

"Erik Lensherr" He nodded with a weak smile to her, holding his hand out for her to shake as well. She gave the two an odd look as Charles peeked outside the curtains at the rest of the people in line. And Erik scanned the room, eying the candles that frankly were actually a bit too close to the tent curtains for comfort.

"Uhh… We-welcome! I'm Julia-"

"Julia? That's an interesting alias, _June_, m'dear." Charles turned to her, smirking as he noticed her eyes widen in shock and fear all at once. Who were they? What did they want?

"I don't know what you're talking about." She quickly recovered, smiling up at them and tilting her head to the side in mock curiosity.

"You don't need to put up an act, it's okay." Erik shuffled out of the way for Charles to step up to her and sit down on the cushion in front of her.

"_You're among friends, June LaClaire."_

She jumped, scrambling to her feet and backing away from the two. Charles looked up at her with the smile on his face that hadn't budged since he had sat down. His lips didn't move, how did she hear that? Erik crossed his arms across his chest, tilting his head slightly to the side, wondering what it was that his shorter friend had said.

"W-who are you?" She stuttered, slowly backing away from them.

"We're like you, June. We're what they call 'mutants'." Erik turned towards her, looked her up and down as if searching her for something. He then unraveled one arm, reaching out towards her, and suddenly she felt her glasses begin to lift from her face and off the bridge of her nose, floating over to him and landing calmly in his hands. Her heart raced, blood pumping through her veins, her head was becoming light and her ears were starting to ring.

"So, we have a proposition for you, darling. How would you like to work where people don't threaten to call animal control on you?" Charles was looking down at his hands as he lifted himself to his feet, and slowly looked up at her.

"I know you don't like it here, I don't even have to read your mind to know." He smiled at her, his lips curling up into a charming and all at once tempting smile.

"What do you say?"

She hesitated, wringing her hands nervously in front of her.

"We can leave out through the back curtains without getting caught." She motioned to the back of the tent, but kept looking at Erik or what she saw of him, the blur of black and gray and a bit of flesh tone.

"Can I have my glasses back? I can't see." She stood still as he walked towards her, gently placed her glasses on her face and suddenly she could see the world clearly again.

"You look much prettier without glasses." He said quietly. She was offended.

"We can get her contacts later." Charles interjected, and rushed the two towards the back, of the tent.

"Let's get your bags and go before we run into trouble."

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><p><strong>AN: **_One chapter down, several more to go! :D I'm so excited for this you guys, you don't even know, more about June's mutation will be revealed later on, and I purposely kept using "her" and "she" in the beginning so I could let Charles and Erik reveal her true identity, sorry if it confused some of you guys!** Reviews and constructive criticism, please! Let me know what you think! (:**_


	2. II: Animal Control

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**A/N: **_Just crankin' out the chaptersssss. I'm so excited for this story. I plan to pull this through the movie with June added in and continue on after that, in case anyone was wondering!_

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of it's characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

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><p>"Are you sure this is your bunk?" Erik asked with a rather confused look on his face. Even Charles looked pretty surprised. She wouldn't blame them though; it was rather drab and boyish, just like all of her clothes.<p>

"I'm pretty sure these are boys' clothes." Charles picked up a pair of basketball shorts and glanced over at June with a raised, curious brow. June laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.

"I don't get paid well and men's clothing is cheaper." She snatched the shorts from Charles and threw them in her duffel bag. She grabbed another shirt; a v-neck one, the most feminine article of clothing she had besides bras and underwear.

"And besides, it's not like I'm trying to catch myself a boyfriend. I'm a circus freak show act, and I'm already lucky Chester doesn't force me to wear some ridiculous costume." She rolled her eyes, zipping her bag up and throwing the longest strap over her shoulder.

"The job requires me to move around way too much… A-and if people learned about the real me they wouldn't love me anyways." June slowed down and stared at the ground for a moment, and then she looked up, smiling at the two older mutants. Erik nodded solemnly assuming he understood, but Charles just frowned and furrowed his brow. He didn't even need to read her mind and he could tell her troubles went deeper than just being a mutant and a 'circus freak show act'. She rose to her feet and spun around slowly, glancing here and there and taking in her last glimpse of her bunk. Not like she'd miss it anyways. She gave a long, heavy sigh, and glanced over at Erik who started eying her warily, looking very impatient to go, but she just turned to Charles.

"There's someone I want to say goodbye to first."

"I think we should just g-,"

"Go ahead, be quick and quiet," Charles interrupted Erik and waved her off, holding his hand out to take her bag for her. She nodded appreciatively and tossed her bag to him, quickly dashing out of the tent.

"What're you doing? Are you sure that's a smart move, Charles?" Erik practically hissed at his friend. He was uncomfortably anxious at the prospect of losing another recruit; they'd already been turned down by another just beforehand.

"Don't worry, she'll come back," Charles nodded, handing her bag to him. Erik hesitated at first wondering why he was taking the bag; but it was like second nature to him now and in the end just snatched it and began grumbling to himself under his breath. Charles just crossed his arms in front of his chest and smirked.

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><p>June ran as fast as her legs would take her. She dodged other performers, slipping by visitors to the left and to the right careful to make as little physical contact with anyone as possible. Chester, her boss, was beyond a doubt already storming through the fairgrounds looking for her; she had abandoned her tent about a half an hour ago and there were probably countless people waiting impatiently in line. If she didn't find Anna quick, she'd be royally screwed. June ducked as she came into sight of a coworker, a clown, and for a moment she was glad that she didn't need to get suited up to do her act. She would have stuck out like a sore thumb.<p>

"Shit." She suddenly skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over her own feet as a familiar greasy, balding head came into view. She pushed her hair out of her face, and adjusted her glasses, making sure she wasn't just seeing things in the hype of the moment.

"Shitshitshit" She glanced over her shoulder, eying the clown that stood in her way, entertaining a rather brave group of children with his ridiculous antics. Nowhere to run, she was going to be spotted and she certainly wasn't looking forward to being chased by animal control if Chester somehow got his hands on her.

A sharp and rather powerful yank on her sleeve dragged her in between two tents, knocking over several crates in the process and causing unnecessary collateral damage.

"Julia!" Anna hissed in her ear, slapping her hand over her friend's mouth before she began to kick and scream, "Shhh! It's me, Anna! What the hell are you doing? Chester's on a rampage! He's going to kill you!"

June pried her friend's hand off her mouth and turned to her, managing to somehow surprise Anna before she even spoke. Rather than looking angry or frightened by Anna's hidden fury, she looked happy, relieved even.

"Anna, listen to me. I met these people, the-these two men. They offered me a job, it's, uh, it's a little dangerous, but it's better than being a circus act. I'm leaving with them tonight." June grabbed her friend by the shoulder when she began to shake her head and turn away.

"Julia, you're being ridicul-,"

"No, don't call me Julia anymore, my real name's June. June LaClaire,"

"What? An alias? I guess that's understandable..."

"And please, Anna, listen. I'm going. I'm leaving with them, Anna. I came to say goodbye to yo-"

"What? Juli-June, Julia- I don't even know anymore! What's gotten into you? You're being ridiculous; you can't just go running off with two strangers like that, who knows what they would do to you!" Anna swatted her friend's hands off of her, crossing her arms defiantly in front of her. June's smile faded, she shook her head at her, rubbing the back side of her arms. She ducked her head down with a strange smile, her hair falling out of her bun and over her face, a veil between two best friends.

"You don't get it Anna," June looked up, a smile so sad, so foreign on her face that it stunned Anna into silence.

"They're like me. They're different. One of them; he can read my mind! And the other, he lifted my glasses right off my face when he was like, 10 feet away from me." June grabbed her friend's hand and felt a pang in her chest when she watched her friend's eyes begin to water.

"Listen to me, I'm going to go, Anna. You don't know what this means to me." She said with such a final tone that her friend gave up, a tear rolling down her cheek. Anna tried to smile, but her heart just wouldn't let her, she was torn.

"Juli- June, you've been like a sister to me. Who will make me feel better when John's an asshole?" Anna half-smiled, looking her friend in the eye. June smiled at her, chuckling under her breath. She let go of her friend's hand, and lifted hers to just below her friend's shoulder.

"I'll be right here." June poked her friend right where her heart would be and earned a genuine smile from her. The two pulled each other in for a hug one last time.

"I'm sorry, Anna. But I have to do this."

"I know, go. Take care of yourself, June." She playfully shoved her friend away and June smiled, waving to her. The brunette stepped away, climbing over the crates that blocked the alleyway they'd hidden in. But she hesitated and looked back at Anna, her only true friend. The blond smiled sadly and waved to her prompting June to wave back. And for the last time, the two girls went their separate respective ways.

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><p>"What is <em>taking<em> her so long?" Erik glanced at his watch impatiently, tapping his foot as he paced around the bed that Charles had taken a seat on. He wasn't normally this anxious, but he just really hated circuses, mainly clowns. Yes, that's right.

"Patience, my friend. She'll be here shortly." Charles, hunched over and propped his right ankle on his left knee and holding his leg up with his hands. He glanced over at the curtains that separated the bunk from the hallway from his seat quickly noticing the sound of rapid footsteps quickly approaching

"Speak of the devil." Charles muttered to himself with a smirk right as June swung the curtains open, breathless from running all the way here.

"We don't…" She paused, hunching over and trying to catch her breath.

"We don't have much time," June laughed to herself a bit and the two gave her a curious look before she continued and explained, "Chester called animal control on me."

"What?"

"Jesus- let's get out of here." She nodded in agreement.

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><p><strong>AN: **_Ahhh, I just couldn't help but type out another chapter, haha. It seems kind of slow right now, but don't worry, I'll be introducing the other mutants in the next chapter, I just didn't want to overwhelm you guys with another 2000 word chapter again, haha. **Reviews and constructive criticism is TOTALLY welcome, it really motivates me when I get review/fav/alert notices, just sayyiin'. If you guys review, I'll be the happiest girl in the world! Thanks for reading! (:**_


	3. III: You have nice legs, June

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**A/N: **_Okay, time to introduce some more mutants and the fun begins! :D_

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of it's characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

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><p>Well, this wasn't what she expected. Granted, she didn't really take Charles and Erik seriously when they told her they were working under the CIA. She figured it was just a lure to get her to agree with their offer, figured <em>they<em> thought that _she_ thought it would be cool to be a CIA agent. She didn't actually believe they were going to work for the CIA. Boy was she wrong.

"Well, here we are." Charles turned around in the passenger seat as he unstrapped his seatbelt, watching June's awestruck look with a smirk. Erik glanced back at the brunette in the rear view mirror as he stopped the engine of the car, pulling the keys out of the ignition and following Charles out of the vehicle. But June was too dumbstruck to actually move. She didn't even notice when a man in a black suit came waddling over to them, acknowledging Charles and Erik with a brief nod before turning his attention to the newest recruit.

"Is she okay?" He asked, adjusting his glasses on his face. He was a little out of breath from the jog, but he wasn't very in shape either. Erik just shrugged and Charles nodded, opening the backseat door for June. She suddenly snapped out of her trance, and stumbled out of back seat and onto the pavement of the roundabout.

"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Agent Black. Welcome to my branch of the CIA, Uhh…" The heavy man smiled enthusiastically at her, leaning forward and holding his hand out of her to shake. She eyed him for a moment, glancing at his outstretched hand before deciding he was harmless. Pfft, 'Agent Black'; what a cheesy name.

"June, June LaClaire." She smiled, shaking his hand briefly before quickly letting go and turning to grab her bag from the back seat.

"Oh, let me get those for you, dear, you've had a long trip." Charles offered, brushing her aside and reaching in for her duffel himself. With a quiet grunt, Charles managed to get it out of the car at a rather awkward angle, stumbling a bit over himself, but maintaining his proud and composed posture.

"Shall we head inside and get settled in then? There are others, just like you." Charles stretched one arm out towards the main entrance of the building as if she needed guidance up the sidewalk to the front doors. She hesitated for a moment, glancing at the two other mutants before she nodded meekly. Frankly, she wasn't very comfortable being at a CIA base, but the prospect of meeting other people just like her was too tempting to pass up. Charles nodded in approval and led the way with June following close behind.

"Here you go." Erik gently slapped the car keys with a smirk against Agent Blacks chest as he walked by, leaving the man to scramble to catch them before they tumbled to the ground.

"What, this isn't valet parking!" He called after them, only to find that they had already disappeared indoors and he was just yelling to himself. He let out a long sigh, and glanced from the keys to the car and back again.

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><p>"Charles! You're back!"<p>

June stumbled over to the side and out of the way when a blonde with a particularly strong affection for the older mutant practically tackled him to the ground, throwing her arms around his neck in relief. June quickly muttered an apology to Erik for bumping into him, and he just nodded and shrugged a bit.

"Raven! Inside voices, plea-"

"What took you so long? Goodness, did you guys get ambushed or something?" Her arms slinked off from around his neck and swung behind her back as she took a step back and gradually quieted down.

"Eh, sort of…" Charles began, scratching the back of his head. The blonde glanced warmly over at Erik before she noticed June and suddenly her face brightened again.

"Oh, hi!" She smiled at June, infecting her with her good spirit and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Raven, this is our newest recruit, June. Be nice to her. June this is Raven, my oldest friend."

"And only friend, besides Erik here," Raven leaned forward with a smirk and winked at June, earning a genuine smile and chuckle from the brunette. Raven held her hand out for her to shake as June awkwardly accepted, still a bit stunned by the blonde's sudden appearance. She was a lot like Anna, June thought briefly before shoving the thought aside.

"Uh, excuse me."

Besides Charles, everybody jumped at the sound of a new voice from directly behind them, startled by how suddenly it appeared.

"Oh Moira, what wonderful timing! This is June, our newest recruit," Charles turned and spun June around to face the older woman with an uneasy smile on the young girl's face. Moira smiled, tucking a stray lock of her short brown hair behind her ear and shaking June's hand.

"Nice to meet you, welcome to the team." She immediately turned to Charles and gave him a look that seemed to down his spirits.

"Agent Black needs to talk to you two." Moira said in a stern tone passing a glance at Charles and Erik.

"_Right now_." She added when none of them seemed to budge.

"Right, of course," Charles snapped out of his daze, and spun around momentarily to face his younger blonde friend.

"Raven, would you be so kind as to show June to the showers? She accidentally ran into a hotdog cart earlier and got ketchup all over her shirt." Charles flashed Raven a smile that told her that she had no option of ducking out otherwise, "Come along now, little Erik,"

"Don't talk to me like a dog." Erik muttered under his breath and proceeded to spin around and disappear around the corner with Moira and Charles at the shake of a lamb's tail.

"Uh. Charles- He. He had my bag…" June squeaked just a moment too late. Raven's lips curled to form a silent 'Oh' before a light bulb went off over her head. She dismissed June's worries off with a wave of her hand.

"I have extra clothes you can borrow. They might be a little big on you but it's better than dirty clothing." Raven grinned and motioned for June to follow her. The two only walked a small distance down the hallway before stepping into an elevator, finding the halls of the building to be surprisingly empty. June stood in the corner of the elevator as Raven leaned forward and hit a series of buttons on the keypad on the wall and the elevator promptly responded to her, rising up to the second floor.

"Say; are those _your_ clothes you're wearing or are they borrowed?" Raven asked nonchalantly as the two waited in silence for the elevator doors to open. June was suddenly glad that Raven had her back to her so she couldn't see the slight blush across her cheeks.

"Y-yeah, they're uh, they're mine, haha. My last job didn't really pay well; and men's clothing is cheaper." June recited the same explanation she had to Charles, and to quite a long list of other people too. It was a rather rare sight to see an 18 year old girl like June dressed in boy's clothing.

"Besides, it's not like I'm looking to find myself a boyfriend. I'm rather plain looking anyways." June looked up at the floor lights right above the elevator door and watched as it began to blink at the second floor when Raven turned to look at her.

"That's not true. I think you're pretty." Raven smiled as the elevator doors slid open and she stepped backwards out of the small compartment. June stepped out after her, smiling a bit but mostly blushing like a madwoman now.

"I'll take you shopping when we have time, okay?" The blonde offered innocently, turning around just as June's head shot up. This girl; she was creepily similar to Anna.

"Yeah, okay," June smiled.

"You can probably use the empty dorm's bathroom. It's a shared bathroom with another room but it's better than not having a bathroom at all," Raven explained as she lead June down a hall that had identical doors all down the left and right, distinguished only by the number plate on the left of the door. The blonde stopped midway, glancing up at the closest dorm's number and counting a few more doors down before they came to their destination.

"Why are there dorms at a CIA base..?" June thought aloud, not intending to actually ask the question. She probably looked like an idiot to Raven now, what a great first impression; awkwardness, ketchup stained clothing, asking stupid questions. Goodness.

"Oh, it's because so many agents work here for extended periods of time. So they built dorms so they could cut back on transportation costs to and from town and work could be done more efficiently." Raven said, knocking on the door before turning the knob and nudging it open.

"Or at least that's what Hank says, he stays here himself." She glanced in, blindly feeling the wall for a light switch and flicking it on. She chuckled at June's confused expression, saying, "I'll introduce you to the rest of the recruits later."

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><p>"Aw, bloody- I forgot to give June back her clothes." Charles ran his hand over his face in exasperation, sighing deeply. And he had told Raven to take her up for a shower too. Agent Black glanced up at him with a certain look on his face, one that looked rather startled and suddenly alert.<p>

"You what?"

"Oh, no!" Charles bent over in his seat, pulling the duffle bag from off the ground.

"I helped her carry her things in?" The mutant tried to clear things up, earning a halfhearted nod from the man on the other side of the cluttered desk. Charles glanced past Erik, who sat beside him and towards the door hearing those familiar lazy footsteps past the office. No agent walked that lazily, Charles instantly knew who it was. He pressed his index and middle finger to his temple, his eyes falling half shut as he stared at his feet. The footsteps outside of the door suddenly stopped and began to come back towards the office.

"Am I allowed to come in though? I won't get gunned down by the FBI?" A voice asked from the other side of the door. Both Erik and Agent Black glanced at the door and then at Charles with a suspicious look as he rose from his seat with the bag and walked over to the door and opening it to reveal a slightly awkward and tall red headed boy standing on the other side of the door frame.

"This is the CIA, Sean. And no you won't get 'gunned down'." Charles lifted the boys hand from his side and placed the bag's strap into them, earning a bewildered look from the taller boy.

"Bring this up to the dorms for our new friend and introduce yourself to them. Raven should be there too." Charles patted the boy on his shoulder and promptly shut the door gently in his face as he began to protest. He spun back around to receive two different looks from the two other men in the room; a fascinated one from Agent Black, and an amused one from Erik. Both looks drew a smile out of the telepath.

* * *

><p>June carefully stepped out of the steamy shower and onto the cold granite floor of the bathroom, holding onto the sliding door for support. She was notably clumsy and the last thing she wanted to was to be found knocked out on the floor of the bathroom because she slipped and fallen.<p>

She grabbed the towel from off the counter top, wiping her face and wringing the water out of her hair with it. The brunette wiped her hand across the mirror in front of her, glancing at her face briefly before she wrapped the towel around her body and turned to enter the empty dorm where Raven said she'd leave her a change of clothes. June squinted, struggling to see without her glasses as her eyes quickly scanned the dark room for the set of clothes, finding them set on the edge of the bed on the other side of the room. She picked up the little note on the pile of neatly folded clothes and quickly scanned it over.

_'These should fit you! The underwear is new, I've never worn it before so you don't have to worry~ I'll be back in about 30 minutes!_

_-Raven (10:15)_

Damn. June thought, glancing at the clock on the wall right next to her. That was about 25 minutes ago, not that bad.

She shrugged the thought off, taking off the towel and placing it on the bed, goose bumps crawling across her skin from the strong air conditioning. She slipped the black bra and red underwear on before picking up the shirt that Raven had picked out for her and examining it. She wasn't very used to wearing girl clothes.

Just as she went to pick up the pair of jeans on the bed, a light flooded the room and June suddenly spun around, the look on her face somewhat resembled that of a deer in headlights. And her brown eyes locked with a pair of vivid blue ones and for a moment her brains desperate attempt to save her from embarrassment told her it was Raven. But she knew better. Those blue eyes belonged to a face much too freckly; a body much too tall, and was paired with hair much too red and wild to be the other female mutant. For a good ten seconds, the two of them just stared at each other, dumbfounded and at a loss for words. I mean, he had just walked in on her 80% naked (just because all the important stuff was covered doesn't matter).

"Hi, I'm Sean… Are you the new recruit?" He said rather casually for the frozen blank expression on his face.

"Yeah, I am. I'm June." She automatically responded, still too numb from the initial shock to properly react. His eyes finally broke contact with hers and slinked down her body, which was turned slightly away from him and to the bed.

"You have nice legs, June." He blinked once, then twice, and then suddenly the smirk that should've been there to begin with crossed his face and June finally snapped out of her daze, snatching the towel off the bed to cover her body.

"Get out!" She squeaked, grabbing a pillow off the bed and chucking it at him with all the force she had in her body. He ducked behind the half open door and managed to dodge it before it hit him with the full force of a fluffy rabbit. He poked his head back in with a playful frown.

"Hey, I just complimented you. It's not very nice to throw stuff at people who compliment you." He tried, bracing himself for another object to be thrown. And he was exactly right; he got a face full of pillow again when she somehow made it to the door in record time and shoved it in his face. And being momentarily blinded by it, he felt her hands on his chest, shoving him out of the room all while on the verge of screaming at him to "Get the hell out".

He tumbled to the ground, landing on his butt as he pulled the pillow off his face and chuckled at the closed door, running his hand through his hair. Meanwhile, June leaned on the other side of it her heart racing and her face flushed a deeper red than his hair, her shoulders rising and falling in time with her frantic breath. There was a soft knock on her door, and June jumped, pushing herself away from the door while locking it behind her.

"Uh… June. June, I'm sorry I didn't knock, I thought the dorm was empty. Charles told me to bring your bag up here and then take you and Raven down to the lounge. Well, actually Charles told me to bring it to the new recruit but he didn't tell me where to bring it." Sean attempted to explain.

'_And he also didn't tell me the new recruit was a girl.'_

" And, uh, and then I ran into Raven and she said to just leave it in the dorm and I didn't know you were in there. So, I'm sorry?" The red head called from the other side of the door, leaning close to it to try and hear her on the other side. June crossed her arms across her chest, feeling her face and tips of her ears get uncomfortably hot.

"You know, you'll need these clothes to get dressed so you'll have to open the door eventually." Sean added, giving the door a light tap again.

"Raven brought me clothes to change into." June said quickly before she tiptoed over to the bed and quickly pulled the v-neck t-shirt and the skinny jeans she had left her. The shirt fit perfectly, not too tight but not too baggy, but the jeans were a little big for her twiggy legs and hung rather low on her hips. It would just have to do for now. June stood at the end of the room, eying the door nervously. She would have to open it eventually, and from the sound of it, the red head wasn't intending to leave her behind.

June sighed reaching over onto the night desk and putting her glasses on her face, gathering her dirty clothes and folding them up so the massive ketchup stain wouldn't get on Raven's clothes. And lastly, she searched around for her sneakers, but they were nowhere to be found. They were, however, replaced with a simple pair of black flipflops and June figured Raven had gotten a hold of her sneakers and replaced them with flipflops for her. Sighing, she put them on and glanced at the vanity mirror on the other side of the room for a moment at how she looked. Hey, not bad, not bad at all. Her hair had started to dry considerably and didn't look like such a mess anymore.

Sean jumped when the door suddenly clicked and swung open and a June who's face was still slightly flushed from embarrassment poked her head out into the hall. Upon seeing that the red headed boy was still there her face flushed even more and she slowly stepped out with her old clothes in her arm, looking down at the ground as she adjusted her glasses on her nose.

Sean had to turn away for a moment to stop himself from chuckling and making a comment about her glasses.

And right on time, Raven reappeared with Charles by her side, the two of them carelessly chatting about mundane things, oblivious to the tension June was feeling. Sean looked relaxed, or maybe he was just good at pretending he was.

"Oh! Sean you made it up here! Fantastic!" Charles smiled and clapped the boy on his shoulder who stumbled a bit from surprise at his strength.

"What's wrong June? Your face is really red. Do the clothes fit you okay?" Raven bombarded her with questions and June answered them all with a nod.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. And the clothes fit well, thanks Raven."

"The clothes fit very well," Sean muttered under his breath, heard only by Charles, luckily, who furrowed his brow and gave him a questioning look that Sean ignored. The red headed boy lazily tilted his face towards Charles.

"Don't you dare read my mind," Sean said to Charles, earning an amused look from him and Raven and a rather embarrassed one from June that went unnoticed.

"Let's go down to the lounge," Raven interjected the moment of silence and looped her arm around June's, pulling her along and ahead of the other two. The two males looked at each other, looked at Raven and June, stumbling after the blond and they proceeded to follow the girls.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ Yayyyy, that was a lot more fun to write than I thought. Sorry the chapter's so long, once I start writing I just can't stop, haha. **Reviews and constructive criticism is more than welcome! Thanks for reading! (:**_


	4. IV: Juno

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of it's characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

* * *

><p>It had been a while since she'd felt so comfortable around other people. But after introductions were made and all the other mutant recruits were gathered together in the lounge, there was an air of lightness that surrounded them. Everyone seemed at ease, and June especially was. Even being seated right next to the red head that had walked in on her changing didn't dampen her mood. They all gathered on the lounge chairs and couches surrounding the glass coffee table, June seated next to Angel and Darwin, Sean in the chair next to their couch. Alex sat in the other chair across from him, and Hank and Raven sat across the coffee table from June. It was like they were old friends, gathered together and talking, laughter accenting the conversation.<p>

"We should think of code names! We're government agents now; we should have secret code names." Raven blurted, looking quite proud of her idea. Although it seemed a bit abrupt and random to everyone else, June could tell that Raven had been juggling the idea in her head for a while now.

"Like Agent Black?" The brunette grinned, earning a light hearted chuckle from Sean, who seemed to agree that Agent Black was a bit of a ridiculously clichéd code name.

"I wanna be called Mystique," Raven grinned, glancing across the room at everyone who nodded in approval of the idea.

"Daamn, I wanted to be called Mys_tique_," Sean quipped, propping his foot up at the edge of his chair and leaning back against the arm rest with his elbow propped up. He managed to pull a chuckle even out of June as she glanced over at him briefly, making unexpected eye contact before she forced herself to turn away and look at Raven.

"Well tough, I called it," She said in good humor, leaning back slightly in her seat as a shower of bright blue scales flowed over her skin and suddenly with a wiggle of her eyebrows; Sean wasn't only sitting next to June, but also across from her.

"Woaaah!"

"And I'm way more mysterious than _you_," Everyone jumped or reacted in some way in surprise. Sean's reaction being the funniest as his chair tipped back and he would've fallen over if June hadn't reached over and pressed down on the arm rest, bringing him back to a safe position. He flashed a quick smile at June in thanks, grinning at her with all the smugness of a first place marathon winner. Everyone applauded Raven's abilities as she quickly transformed back into her original form.

"Darwin, what about you?" Raven passed a glance to him from across the coffee table.

"Well, uhh. Darwin's already a nickname, y'know. So it fits," Darwin shrugged a bit, cocking his head to the side. "Adapt to survive and all."

He paused momentarily and grinned, getting up from his seat. "Check this out."

Everyone turned in anticipation to watch as Darwin strolled up to the fish tank, turning to make sure everyone was looking. Slowly, he dipped his head in the water, and June suddenly sat up, a little worried until gradually, gills began to appear on the sides of his face, and Darwin turned his head towards them in the water, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Everyone cheered, laughing in delight and applauding him as well.

"Thank you, thank you," Darwin pulled his head out of the tank, shaking the water off of him as he gestured towards Sean, "What about you?"

Sean sat up straight as eyes turned to him, propping either elbow on the arm rests and intertwining his fingers together, leaning forward in thought.

"I'm going to be… _Banshee_," Sean sat up again with a satisfied smile when Hank interjected.

"Why do you wanna be named after a wailing spirit?" The boy asked in genuine curiosity, turning slightly towards the red head.

"You might wanna cover your ears." A smirk crossed Sean's face as he pushed himself out of the seat, his long legs carrying him to the end of the coffee table. He crouched down at the end of it, facing the large window as everyone hesitantly put their hands over their ears.

"Cover your ears, honey." He passed a glance at June who had momentarily spaced out. She shot up, her hands flying to her ears as Sean turned back to face the window. He took in a deep breath, tilting his head from side to side before he blew out, a high pitched screech racing through the room and shattering the whole window into millions of little pieces.

Everyone was stunned to silence, their jaws dropping as Sean rose to his feet again, looking a little surprised himself until everyone began to laugh in awe. The red head grinned and returned to his seat, pointing to Angel.

"Your turn!"

"My uh, 'stage name' is Angel." The dark haired girl smiled, rising to her feet and taking off her leather jacket, spinning around for everyone to see the tattoos across her arms and back. Everyone ignored Sean as he whistled, tapping his finger on his chair.

"Kinda fits." She added, as the tattoos peeled off of her skin on their own and quickly formed a pair of fairy wings.

"You can fly?" Raven and June both asked in unison, their jaws dropping in amazement.

"Uh huh. And uhm," She turned towards the broken window, leaning back a bit before she spit a ball of acid fire out and it landed on the head of the statue outside, sizzling and burning through the stone.

"Holy crap," June clapped as everyone broke out into laughter. Angel re-seated herself next to June, who scooted over to give her more room. She glanced over at Hank, gesturing to him and asking, "What's your name?"

"How about Bigfoot?" Alex quipped, in the middle of taking a sip of his bottle of cola. Hank shifted uncomfortably from his end of the couch while Raven glanced over at him and then back at Alex with a frown.

"Well you know what they say about guys with big feet." She gave a pseudo innocent smile and continued, "And uhh, yours are kinda small."

Laughter spread across the room like wildfire, everybody throwing their head back as Alex smirked a bit, unwilling to admit defeat as he took a sip of his drink with a slight chuckle. He looked up at June who covered her mouth and was chuckling to herself.

"June, what's your ability?" Alex changed the subject and everyone fell for it, following along with him and turning to look at June. She shifted a bit as Sean leaned towards her with his chin propped on the heel of his palm, watching her with a cheesy grin.

"I, uh, I can do two things." June leaned forward, her elbows on her knees as she placed a hand on the glass coffee table. She tilted her head forward, eyes locking onto the glass bottle of cola on the table. That faint gold ring appeared around her pupil and slowly and steadily the empty and half full coke bottles began to float on their own accord, clinking against each other as they drifted off the table. Hank reached out and grabbed one of the bottles, feeling the relieved effect of gravity on it.

"This is incredible. Gravity manipulation?" Hank asked, opening the bottle and taking a gulp. June grinned and nodded, leaning back and letting the bottles land back onto the table with a clatter. Everyone jumped and burst out into laughter, clapping for her and earning a genuinely proud smile from the brunette.

"What's your other ability?" Angel questioned, turning and leaning back a bit so she could see June without being in her face. She sat up uncomfortably, pushing her glasses up on her nose and pressed her lips together, her fingers tangling together nervously as she stared at her feet.

"I shouldn't- it's too dangerous. I can't control it." She looked up momentarily, seeing the confused look on Raven's face. She cocked her head to the side, her brow furrowing in curiosity.

"I'm sure it couldn't be as bad as mine," Alex muttered under his breath as he took a sip from his bottle, thinking no one heard him. Wrong, wrong , wrong.

"Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?" Darwin gestured to him as he leaned forward, awaiting his response. He immediately stiffened, setting his bottle down on the coffee table.

"Uh, it's not um... I-I just can't do it, I can't do it here," He shrugged, looking rather hesitant and uncomfortable all of the sudden. June looked up at him, her interest caught, and relief flushing over her as they quickly moved on and her second ability was forgotten.

"Can you do it out there?" Darwin motioned to the courtyard, cueing for everyone else to join in on egging him on to show off his ability.

"C'mon Alex!" June clapped and Sean joined in, slapping his hands on the arm rest and chanting his name until everyone else joined in and he reluctantly got up and out of his seat. They all cheered as he sighed and made his way to the broken window, everyone else rising from their seat to trail after him.

"Get down when I tell you." He said as he stepped over the low ledge and out into the courtyard. He stood at one end of it, shaking the nerves off himself as everyone else gathered at the window, poking their heads out to see what was happening.

"Get back." He said, looking straight ahead at the statue in the middle of the courtyard. They obeyed momentarily, shifting back into the lounge until not a moment later, they stuck their heads back out again.

"Get back!" Alex waved them in urgently, but was ignored. He let out an exasperated sigh, muttering "whatever" under his breath. He took in a deep breath, preparing himself as he spun his hips back and a streak of red glowed around him and was released flying across the courtyard and making a clean slice of the statue in half. Everybody stumbled back from the window, ducking to keep from getting hurt by Alex's waves of energy and heat.

"Woaaah!" Everyone clapped in delight as they picked themselves up from off the floor, and Alex smiled triumphantly, making his way back into the lounge.

"Pretty impressive, Alex. I can see why you didn't want to use it inside." Darwin clapped Alex on the back as he stepped over the ledge and back inside.

"You could cause a lot of havoc with that power," June added in as she moved to return to her seat. Raven stopped in front of her, almost causing the brunette to run right into her.

"That's it!"

"What's it?"

"Havoc, Alex, your name is Havoc," Raven grinned in success, clapping her hands. Alex shrugged smiling at the blond.

"I guess I could live with that."

"What about June?" Sean nudged her a bit, and she looked up at him.

"What about me?" She wasn't catching on, and he raised a brow at her, tilting his head at her momentarily before he looked at everyone else. They were all deep in thought.

"How about 'Juno'?" Sean smirked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Juno? What does a greek goddess have to do with my powers?" June eyed him as he walked back to his seat and plopped down in it.

"Idunno," He shrugged, "June, Juno?"

He leaned forward with a smirk, watching June from the corner of his eye. "And despite those granny glasses, she's got the long legs of a greek goddess." Sean whispered to Alex, who chuckled and shook his head. June was the only other person to pick up on it, and she blushed a deep red, tucking her legs underneath her as she sat cross-legged on the couch

"You're ridiculous." Alex whispered back.

"It does sound like a pretty awesome name," Raven nodded, as everyone else voiced their agreement.

"How about it, Juno?" Raven patted June on her shoulder and she smiled, chuckling to herself.

"Not bad, I guess. Not bad at all."

* * *

><p>Anyone in their right minds would've realized that putting a bunch of excited young adults into a lounge by themselves would result in a disaster of some sort. What more, they were in a <em>CIA base<em> lounge and they were _agents of the CIA_. It was hard not to expect them to celebrate, and get a little out of hand while they were at it.

Raven danced on the couch as Hank hung upside down from the ceiling light and Angel flew around the room from place to place. Alex and Sean took chairs and the legs of chairs and put all their might into trying to break Darwin's skin of rock, and all the while, June laid on the couch, laughing at their failed attempts. They were so engulfed in what they were doing they failed to notice the three particularly astonished adults standing at the other side of the window in a puddle of shattered glass.

"What are you doing?" Everyone froze in place at the sound of Moira's demand, harsh and scolding with her hands on her hips in disbelief. Raven stepped off the couch and Angel landed on the ground behind her. Hank let go the lamp and fell gracefully back to the ground while June sat up and rose to her feet.

"Who destroyed the statue?" Moira barked again, her voice sharp like a mother scolding her children.

"It was Alex." Hank piped up from the back with his hands in his pockets, sheepishly shifting from side to side. Alex glared back at him with a betrayed look on his face, looking disappointed in him.

"No, Havoc. We have to call him Havoc, that's his name now." Raven interrupted, stepping up to the window and standing in front of the rest of the mutants.

"Raven…" June whispered, warning her not to continue. She knew when she was in deep trouble when she saw it, and this was one of those times.

"And we were thinking…" Raven continued.

Raven pointed to Charles who simply stared at her, his expression cold and disappointed. "You should be Professor X, and you should be Magneto," She grinned, pointing to Erik before her hand fell back to her side. There was a tense silence before Erik scoffed to himself, amused by the situation.

"Exceptional," Was all he said before walking away, accompanied by Moira who gave them one last astonished look.

"I expect more from you." Charles simply said. His voice wasn't angry, it wasn't scolding but it was disappointed and that's what made that pang in Raven's chest as he turned and walked away from the scene and the silenced group of mutants.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _I was just in the writing mood and had to put this out before it escaped me and I wasn't motivated anymore, haha. I might restart this story, I'm a little disappointed with it. It's gotten a lot of hits and alerts but only a couple favs and just three reviews. We'll see how it goes from here, I guess. I'll reveal more about June in upcoming chapters, and I promise it will get more exciting in the next chapter~** If you would be so kind as to review, leave a note o a little message or leave some constructive criticism, it would really make my day! 3 Thanks for reading!**_


	5. V: Kings and Queens

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of its characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

* * *

><p>"June's going to win." Raven sat across from her, arms crossed in front of her as she glared at the table, accepting defeat.<p>

"How many do I need?" She took the dice from Sean who was sitting next to her, leaning forward in anticipation. Raven held up her hand, counting the number she needed from the dice with her fingers.

"Six, exactly?" June asked, looking away for a moment to roll the dice on the coffee table. Everyone leaned in with anticipation, watching as the die spun on its corner until it wobbled to a halt. Six.

"Yes!" June cheered, nudging Sean with her elbow as his jaw dropped in disbelief. She reached over and moved Lolly six spaces forward, just passing Sean's Mr. Mint and walking right into Candy Castle.

"Damn!" Sean cursed, leaning back into the couch as he threw the pamphlet of directions he had in his hand onto the table, knocking over everyone else's game pieces in the process.

"Hey! We weren't done yet!" Angel sat up in protest as Hank leaned back on the other side of June and just chuckled quietly to himself. Sean threw his head back and rested the back of his hand onto his forehead, shaking his head dramatically in defeat.

"Fork it over buddy." June slapped Sean on the leg to get his attention. He shook his head again, turning slightly away from her in mock despair as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet and handed it to June. The brunette smirked, opening it and scrounging around until she found a five dollar bill tucked into a card slot.

"You're going to drive me into bankruptcy," He said with defeated chuckle when she tossed it back onto his lap as he slowly sat up, his wild red hair falling in front of his face.

"We're starting round four!" Sean declared, crossing his arms across his chest and practically flipping the board over as he put his feet up on the table.

"This time, when I win, the loser…" Sean paused for a moment thinking hard, and then began grinning.

"Has gotta give me a kiss," He said in a voice similar to the one you would use when talking to a 3 month old infant, tilting his head to the side and patting his freckly cheek with his hand.

"Hell. No. I always end up last; I'm not giving you a kiss of any kind." Hank interrupted, shaking his head in reluctance. The girls burst into laughter, as Sean turned to Hank and made a kissy face at him before smirking and catching the chuckles himself.

"Fine, then it only applies to the girls," He gave them a wink, accompanied by a corny grin. June shifted slightly away from him, raising a brow at the red haired boy. He sure was a card. Sean turned his head to face June when he felt her look over at him. He grinned at her, his clear blue eyes twinkling with laughter.

"What're you going to do when you lose then?" She raised a brow.

"You know June, you looked awful cute without glasses." He mused, gently nudging her in the arm with his knee and blatantly ignoring her question. She scoffed, turning away from Sean and reaching over the pick up the pieces he had knocked over and restart the game.

"When did you see June without glasses?" Raven chirped innocently, picking up Candyland's directions from off the floor and tucking them underneath the board.

"Oh, when I acci- OW!" Sean suddenly pulled his feet off the table as June slammed her fist onto his toes. She continued what she was doing, setting her game piece back at the starting point. She looked up with a smile, ignoring everyone's amused expressions.

"Alright, let's start! Hand me the dice!"

"Wait, I wanna see June without her glasses!" Raven said, snatching the dice off the table so June couldn't reach it.

"Take your glasses off!" Angel goaded her on, leaning back against her corner of the couch, clapping her hands on her thighs. June frowned, reaching for Raven's arm only to miss as she pulled away.

"I can't see without my glasses though." She frowned, not noticing Sean leaning closer to her, inch by inch, passing glances to Hank looking for approval.

"Yoink!" June's hands frantically flew to her head as she felt her glasses being lifted off her face. But it was too late; Sean was already up on his feet, holding her glasses out of reach, and she couldn't tell which hand it was in without her glasses. He was a blur of red hair, gray shirt and pale skin.

"Ugh, give it back!" June smacked in the arm, pulling on his shirt's sleeve to bring his arm down. Without success.

"Aw June, you should get contacts!" Raven clapped her hands in delight, earning laughs from both Hank and Angel. Sean smirked at her; she was tall for a girl but he was still taller than her, taking a step back as she tried to jump and grab for them. The red head spun around, slipping the thick glasses on his face and spinning back around, his head becoming dizzy already.

"Damn June, your eyesight really sucks." He snickered.

"Sean, give June her glasses back." Darwin shook his head with a little smile. He and Alex had turned around from their arcade game on the other side of the lounge at the commotion. Sean laughed as June crossed her arms in front of her, impatiently tapping her foot in agitation.

"Come on." She frowned, "I really can't see anything."

Giving in to her request, Sean slipped her glasses off his face and slid the back onto hers with a grin. He turned to drop back onto his seat, throwing his feet onto the coffee table again with his arm behind the back of the couch. The brunette took the glasses off and readjusted them, reseating herself as Raven finally handed her the dice with a cheeky grin.

"We're going to get you contacts." She declared, "And then take you shopping because you're not allowed to dress like a boy anymore."

"Hey, that hurts." June joked, holding her hand right over where her heart was. Everyone chuckled as she grinned and shook the dice in her hand, getting ready to roll it when two particularly rude agents walked by outside in the courtyard.

"Oh! I didn't know the circus was in town!"

June cringed, holding the dice in her hand as she froze, her body stiffening at that word_. 'Circus'._

"Hey, come on honey, give us a little…" The man leaned forward gesturing to Angel, flapping his arms back in forth ridiculously and making stupid sound effects. Angel frowned, shaking her head at them. Everyone turned to look out the window but June, who was still hunched over, leaning towards the table, her hair having fallen in front of her face and hiding her expression.

"C'mon, let's see the foot!" He smirked, lifting his own up and tapping it. Hank stood up walking over to the window and waving them off as he pressed a button that drew the curtains in front of the window shut. Angel roughly set down the cup in her hands on the coffee table as Hank reseated himself on the couch with a heavy sigh.

"They're just guys being stupid." Raven tried to reason with the dark haired girl next to her.

"Guys being stupid, I can handle, okay? I've handled it my whole life." She paused, swallowing as she tried to control her temper.

"But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off then the way these ones stare at me." There was a tense silence until Raven spoke up again.

"At us." She corrected. And June hadn't noticed that her trembling fist was clenched around the dice with a vice like grip until Sean's hand gently fell on hers and she looked up at him and his unusually solemn expression. He pulled at her fingers until she began loosening her grip and dropping the dice on the table. There were nail imprints in her palm, and she could feel her whole hand pounding. The brunette rose abruptly to her feet, knocking the front of her calves against the table and startling the group on the couches.

"I-I need to use the bathroom." She said quickly. Her face was red and her lips pressed thin together, her fists clenched at her side as she brushed Sean gently aside when he tried to speak up. But just as she was halfway to the door, a strange sound caught the attention of all the mutants. A low thump; like someone was upstairs stomping on the floor. Except there wasn't a second floor above the lounge.

June halted, glancing at Darwin and Alex and then at everyone else to see where the sound was coming from.

"What was that?" Darwin turned his attention away from the game. Everyone sat up and alert now, slowly rising to their feet as everyone cautiously approached the window.

"I don't know, but something doesn't feel right." He answered his own question. Darwin opened the curtains, and everyone was pressed against the glass, peering outside into the empty courtyard.

"What is _that_?" Everyone followed Darwin's glance up towards the sky and at the big full moon. There was a blur of a figure in it, a flailing silhouette when half of it suddenly disappeared and it became all too clear what was now tumbling to the ground. June immediately backed away from the window, her hands flying over her eyes as she turned to run away but bumped into Sean. There was the thumping sound again, only much louder now that the body had landed right in front of the window. The girls all yelped and June dropped to a crouch, her hands moving to cover her ears as her whole body trembled in fright. The red head knelt down in front of her, trying to coax her to her feet, but her body wouldn' t move. Her eyes were stuck wide in horror, and her hands and body were trembling like she was made of jello.

"June, are you okay?" He quickly asked, grabbing her arm and pulling her forcefully to her feet. She shook her head frantically, her eyes shut tight.

"No, no, no!" Her voice came out cracked and in half a sob as she felt the blood rush out of her head, her vision quickly fading from her. She felt her stomach twist and heart stop momentarily. She felt like she was going to throw up.

It all suddenly came flooding back to her, the silhouette on the edge of the building, the image of the figure now blurred from time. And watching it leaned forward towards the wrong side of the edge; towards the edge where the ground was much farther away. And then darkness, and looking up to see the empty ledge.

"Get back! Get back! Do not leave that room! We're under attack!"

June stumbled over her feet as she felt Sean drag her away from the window and lead everyone else to take cover behind the couches. She bit down on her lower lip hard, her fists clenched tight around his sleeve as she shut her eyes, pushing those thoughts away as best as she could. She had to calm herself, she had to stay calm.

June glanced up momentarily, following everyone's gaze to the back window where a surreal tornado stormed across the field, engulfing Hank's cerebro, and leaving only rubble in the wake of its destruction. Hank noticeable grimaced, an angry frown creasing his features.

She forced herself to look up, look out the window where a man dressed in black with skin the hue of blood red disappeared and reappeared all over the courtyard, leaving dead agents and soldiers in his path. June spun away, taking in a deep breath and found herself seated on the floor with her legs tangled over Sean's. She quickly pulled herself away and towards the window, muttering an apology as he shook his head, beckoning for her to scoot back under the cover of the furniture.

"Stay in here my ass! Let's go!" Darwin cried, leaping over the couch and making a break for the door with the rest of the mutants following him. June scrambled to her feet, running fast to catch up. They burst into the hallway, dashing around the corner only to find agents at the end of it, holding them back and screaming at them to back up as they tried to break through.

"We can help!"

"Get back!"

"Let us through! We can help!" The mutants pushed past and broke out into a run around the corner when a screech from Raven caused everyone to skid to a halt and suddenly turn to book it back in the direction they came from, running from the flames of an explosion. At this point, even June released a small scream as they ran as fast as their legs would take them and were ultimately cornered back into the lounge.

They all huddled together along the side, glancing from window to window and helplessly watching as the tornado ripped through the field and the window on that side was destroyed from a man being thrown against the glass. The kids dropped to the ground for cover as a series of particularly loud gunshots sounded from the other side, some of those bullets reaching the window and shattering it to pieces.

They all backed against the wall as the devil-like man stepped in from his side of the lounge, and another one, smartly dressed in a gray suit with his long hair slicked back and out of his face, stepped in on the side where the tornado had suddenly vanished.

Everything had suddenly become silent and their ears started ringing. They jumped as they heard loud gunshots from the other side of the doors to the hallway. June's face twisted in disgust as she heard the man outside, frantically negotiating with his attacker to spare his life. There was little sound of fighting when the door swung open for the last man to step in, a rather ridiculous looking metal helmet on his head.

He closed the door roughly behind him, as he stood at the door and glanced over to the red man.

"Where's the telepath?" He asked, and the mutants all knew at once that he was talking about Charles.

"Not here." The red hued man responded, his voice was thick with some sort of European accent.

"Too bad," He muttered to himself, reaching up to lift his headgear off, "Well at least I can take this silly thing off."

He slicked his hair back, and looked up at the mutants with a pleasant smile that clashed with his actions.

"Good evening, my name is Sebastian Shaw." He began stepping towards the young group of mutants, "And I am _not_ here to hurt you."

A spare agent suddenly jumped out into the open in the courtyard, fully armed and prepared to shoot. But he was quickly and easily taken down when Shaw addressed the red man, Azazel by his name.

"My friends." Shaw returned his attention back to the mutants, "There's a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, _what we can do_; each of us will face a choice."

Everyone turned to him, giving the man their full attention. June didn't realize that she was clutching onto Sean's sleeve until his hand wrapped around her wrist with a reassuring squeeze. He, out of everyone seemed to be the most calm, but also most angry.

"Be enslaved," He said, glancing across at each of them. He paused at June; glancing at her a moment longer as a cold, wicked smile crossed his face, sending shivers up her spine. "Or rise up to rule."

"Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us." He leaned in closer to the mutants, "Then you are by definition, _against_ us."

He smiled, "So, you can stay, fight for the people who hate and fear you."

"Or you can join me, and live like kings…" He paused, making sure to make eye contact with every one of the mutants, "… And queens."

He held his hand out for them to take, but no one budged, they were all too stubborn. But Angel wasn't. And when she took his hand, they all stared at her in disbelief.

"Angel!" Raven cried in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?" Sean stepped forward, dropping June's hand in the process but was halted by Alex.

"Angel, don't do this." June slipped past Raven and Alex, shaking her head in disbelief and disappointment.

"Come on. We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of." She paused momentarily to try and coax her friends along. June lowered her eyes to the ground, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She turned away, walking to the back of the group towards Hank and Sean.

"We have to do something." Raven muttered, looking frustrated.

With her back turned to the rest of the mutants, June didn't notice the exchange between Alex and Darwin before he himself trailed after Angel and Shaw.

"Stop. I'm coming with you." Darwin walked up to the other mutants as a smile crossed Shaw's face.

"Good choice. So tell me about your mutation."

"Well I adapt to survive, so I guess I'm coming with you." Darwin explained, as Shaw nodded his head in approval. June passed a disbelieving glance to her friends and one look from Alex explained everything. She clenched her fists in anxiety. What if it didn't work?

They passed into the middle of the room, spread out from each other with Alex in the middle.

Darwin turned to face Angel, his back to them when he suddenly turned and shouted Alex's name.

"Get out!" Alex growled as the remaining four turned and dived towards the door and out of range of Alex's destructive mutation. They stumbled clumsily over each other in a rough landing as they tumbled to the ground and covered their head, waves of Alex's energy rushing over them, just out of range of decapitating one of them.

"Get up, get up!" June pushed Sean's legs from over her torso as she scrambled to her feet, and dashed back into the room.

"Wait!" Raven called after her as the girls managed to make it back into the lounge right as Angel and Shaw's team of mutants vanished. June slowly walked to the middle of the room as she watched Darwin trembling, switching his body from metal to stone to try and stay intact. But once she saw those cracks of light, and Alex's look of utter despair. She couldn't watch anymore, she turned away and covered her face as she felt someone lift her glasses off her face and pull her against their shoulder, blocking her from seeing anything. She moved to see who it was but quickly realized she already knew who it was.

"Cover your ears." Sean said as he turned to face the door. He couldn't bear to see his new friend die right before his eyes either.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ Hi everybody! Sorry this is so long, I wanted to just get this whole scene done in one chapter. It'll get loads more fun in the next chapter, I promise. **Reviews and Constructive criticism, please? It motivates me. :D**_


	6. VI: I'll make a note of that

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of its characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

* * *

><p>"Raven!" Everyone looked up in unison at the sound of Charles's voice, watching him run over to them, all seated on a stone bench and looking rather miserable. Raven rose to her feet and embraced him, Charles breathing out a noticeable sigh of relief. He pulled away and turned towards the rest of the kids, his expression was tired and defeated and strict all at the same time.<p>

"We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately."

"We're not going home." Sean interjected instantly, looking up at Charles through his rather silly sunglasses. "She's got no home," He gestured to June who was sitting cross-legged on the ground leaning against the bench with a blank stare on her face.

"What?" Charles squinted his eyes in confusion.

"And he's not going to back to prison." He leaned forward on his knees, glancing at Alex next to him and then up at Charles again.

"They killed Darwin." Alex said, his voice was bitter and frustrated and even without his powers he could hear the guilt in his voice.

"All the more reason for you to leave, this is over." Charles was stubborn and resolute, his arms crossed across his torso.

"What makes you think that this is over for Shaw and his team of freaks? We'll still be targeted if you send us home. Won't we be in even more danger on our own?" June spoke up for the first time since last night, her expression didn't change but her voice was hoarse. She stared out into space for a moment longer before she turned her head and looked up at Charles. There was a sense of anger and hostility in her otherwise emotionless words.

"Darwin is dead, Charles. And we can't even bury him." Everyone fell quiet.

"We can avenge him." Erik spoke up, breaking the silence. Everyone suddenly looked up at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but Charles noticeably cringed. He walked over to and past Erik, mumbling something to him under his breath.

"Erik, a word please."

June gingerly pulled herself to her feet, gripping the stone bench and lifting herself onto her numb legs. They'd fallen asleep from sitting still for so long, and the pins and needles sensation was rushing to them, forcing her to take her time as she grimaced and bit her lip. She flashed Sean and weak but grateful smile when he held her up by her arm, leading her to take a seat on the bench instead of continuing to stand.

"You okay?" He asked, and June found it a bit difficult to take him seriously with his sunglasses, but she just nodded.

"Legs fell asleep."

Charles hesitantly spun around after a brief exchange with Erik, catching the attention of the younger mutants. He took in a deep reluctant breath and began to speak.

"We'll have to train. All of us. Yes?"

"Yeah." Alex agreed with a nod.

"Well we can't stay here." Hank added with a hint of hesitation, "Even if they reopened the department, it's not safe. We've… Got nowhere to go…" Hank finished with an awkward lopsided smile. Everyone silently agreed, biting their lips or wringing their hands in anxiety.

"Yes we do."

* * *

><p>"Jesus Christ…" June never realized her jaw could drop that low. The past week had just been full of unexpected twists and turns and it was beginning to get overwhelming. Everyone stood frozen in their place, admiring the massive building in front of them.<p>

"This is yours?" Sean asked, his arms crossed in front of him in disbelief. Charles turned around with a smile.

"No, it's ours."

"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived; living in such hardship." Erik quipped with a smug smirk.

"Well, it was hardship softened by me," Raven slipped up between Charles and Erik with a smile, earning a chuckle and a fond kiss on the side of the head from Charles.

"Come on, time for the tour," Raven said, breaking past the two older males and leading the group of mutants towards the house.

"I didn't know Charles had such a big home." Sean mused with a chuckle, following after June and Hank.

"I didn't know they even built houses this big." June muttered under her breath, passing a weak smile at Sean who grinned right back at her, his vivid blue eyes suddenly brightening.

* * *

><p>"And last but not least, you'll be staying in this room." Raven spun on her heels and swung open the dark wooden door, stepping aside for June to get a peek in. It was a pretty decent sized room and on the side opposite of the door was a long stretch of windows that let a good amount of sunlight into the room. There was a rather large bed, big enough for two and closer to the other end, and it was topped off with clean white sheets. June stared blankly for a moment, letting the situation at hand sink in, letting the fact that she was going to be living more comfortably then she'd ever had in her life in that single room slowly seep into her mind.<p>

"I hope you're okay with it," Raven added with a soft chuckle, sighing and placing her hands on her hips with a smile on her lips.

"Oh- I… Oh, no," June quickly realized that Raven had taken her silence the wrong way.

"This is incredible, really. I've never lived- heck, I've never stepped foot into such a nice house before…" June smiled sheepishly, cautiously side-stepping around Raven and into her room. She really was breath taken; the rooms were lavishly decorated and furnished for not having been used in so long.

"Where'd you come from? Where'd Erik and Charles find you?" Raven pried, slipping into the room and helping June pick up her bag from off the floor and placing it onto a chair.

"I know about everyone else; Charles sometimes tells me. But I never got around to asking him about you." The blond stepped past the bed and swung open the light white curtains, letting the afternoon sun spill onto the wooden floors and across the dark red walls. June plopped herself onto the bed, bouncing up and down and testing it out by patting her hands on the pillows. The brunette fell back onto the sheets, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the bed as she stared up at the ceiling and sighed.

"I was born in the suburbs." June began, not bothering to be very descriptive. "Around when I was 12 I was passed from foster home to foster home. Seven of them."

June rolled over onto her stomach and kicked her legs back and forth in the air, propping her elbow up and leaning her chin against the heel of her palm. "No one wanted me, you know? Thought I was some demon child. To be frank, I thought the same thing myself." A sad smile crossed her face when she tried to look cheerful.

"Oh, June…" Raven stuttered, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge. June just chuckled to herself and waved the blonde's worries off.

"Then I joined the circus when I was 15." June noticed Raven stiffen, noticed her become rigid as if she had realized she had just done something wrong. "And then Charles and Erik come along, 3 years later. And here I am now!"

"Wow, the circus was the last place I'd expect you to come from." Raven half smiled, careful not to tread on sensitive grounds. June shrugged, a small frown creasing her face.

"You do what you have to do to survive." Raven nodded in agreement, rubbing the back of her arms.

"What about you?" June reached over, shoving her friend playfully by the shoulder.

"Wha- me? I broke into Charles's house-this house actually, when I was a tiny little thing. Disguised myself as his mother to steal some food." Raven chuckled to herself. June raised a brow at her.

"Hey, you do what you have to to survive." The blond joked, shoving June playfully as the brunette moved to sit cross-legged on her bed. The two were turned to face the window and hadn't noticed a certain red head standing at the door until Alex popped his head in and joined Sean, knocking gently on the open door to get their attention. The two girls spun around in their fit of giggles, the boys giving them a moment to recollect themselves.

"Where's the bathroom?" Alex asked politely, though he crossed his arms across his chest impatiently.

"We'd ask Charles but he's busy up to something with Erik." Sean gestured over his shoulder as if the two older mutants were right behind them, shoving a hand into his back pocket.

"Further down the hall, third doors from the end on either side." Raven quickly recited to them. Alex quickly comprehended the directions while Sean leaned back with his head out in the hallway as he squinted and tried to figure out which doors Raven was talking about.

"Got it." Alex flashed them a smile of thanks as he disappeared down the hallway. Sean lingered for a moment longer, admiring June's room with a low whistle.

"Nice view you got there." Sean gestured to the windows as he leaned against the door frame.

"Does this room belong to a blond or a brunette?" He flashed them a lop-sided grin, clearly thinking he was irresistibly charming.

"Brunette." Raven responded before June could slap her hand over her friend's mouth. Sean chuckled to himself, scanning the room once again before his eyes stopped and locked with June's.

"I'll make a note of that." He quickly added before disappearing with a wave.

"Sean is so _odd_," Raven blurted before bursting into laughter and eventually pulling June into her infectiously good mood as well. A genuine smile crossed her face as she nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he is." She shook her head and chuckled to herself. But she couldn't shake the image of his bright blue eyes staring into her own dull ones. And the smirk; she had the hardest time shaking off the smirk.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _Yaaaaaaaaaargh, I woke up early today and couldn't fall back asleep so I finished the chapter I started writing yesterday. Sorry it's so boring ): I'm going to reveal more of June's past and powers soon, I promise! Just stick with me here! (: And thank you all sooo much for the favs and alerts and review, it means a lot to me to get feedback!_

_**Reviews and constructive criticis****m?** (I really need it lol)_


	7. VII: Vindication

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of its characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

* * *

><p>"This is incredible! Your mutation- Excuse me, your <em>mutations. <em>I didn't know this was possible." Charles's incredulous smile was infectious, and June found herself unable to suppress an amused smile.

"So basically you're saying that I'm more screwed up than normal." She joked, leaning back in the chair and crossing her arms in front of her.

"No, of course not! Do you know what you're capable of, June? Not only can you manipulate gravity, but you're also semi-telepathic." Charles was practically bouncing in his seat in excitement.

"So I have two mutations? Angel was like that too." June raised a brow, unimpressed. At least she was learning more about herself, that was a plus.

"What you told me about your friend Anna and your miraculous ability to cheer her up when she's in the dumps? That's you manipulating the amygdala of the brain. I bet you that with a bit of practice, you could press into a person's cerebrum. You'd be able to read minds like me. This is fantastic! You're capable of such incredible things!"

"I'm capable terrible things too." The words automatically flowed right out of her lips before she could stop herself. Her hands flew to cover her mouth as she turned away from Charles and his excitement over his discovery quickly turned into concern. He lifted his index and middle finger to the side of his head as he leaned forward on his desk, probing into her mind.

All at once he was hit by the overwhelming rush of raw emotion. He saw her memories and felt everything she felt, felt the way her heart slowed the blood pumping through her veins, the familiar sensation of aching; of guilt. She jumped to her feet, kicking the chair back as she grabbed his hand from the side of his face frantically.

"Stop." She muttered, glaring into Charles's eyes. His blue hues looked up in her brown ones and were surprised to see not anger, but fear. But he had already dived into her memories and it took him not more than a split second to see and feel everything.

"It wasn't your fault." Charles broke the silence. He could feel her mutation subconsciously doing its job, accidentally passing her emotions onto him. She was scared, absolutely terrified and the adrenaline-her adrenaline pumped through him. "You didn't know."

She released his hand, her shoulders rising and falling in time with her labored breathing. Her face was reddening and her eyes were watering, a dead giveaway to her sudden change of emotions.

"I will teach you to control your mutation, June. You can use your powers for good." He began to rise to his feet as well, placing his hands on the edge of the desk to support him.

"No." She blurted.

"No?" Charles paused for a moment, looking up at her before he straightened himself out to his full height.

"Nothing good can come from it. You know it yourself."

"I don't believe that, you're just scared, June. You have to overcome that fea-"

"That's easier said than done, Charles." She snapped and immediately after she regretted it, gritting her teeth in frustration. "I'm sorry."

'_Don't apologize, you've done nothing wrong.'_ Charles looked serious as he projected his voice into her mind, his mouth twisting into a frown.

"Nobody is persecuting you but yourself, June. You're forcing yourself to stand trial for a sin that you're not guilty of." Charles placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and felt her cringe, felt her want to pull away, but she didn't.

"You have to learn to forgive yourself." She looked up at him with a miserably defeated smile.

"I wish I knew how, Charles."

There was a brief silence punctuated by shallow breaths from both June and Charles before she quickly wiped the tears on the verge of spilling from her eyes and turned away from him.

"It's late. I should go." She uttered under her breath as she walked to the door, glancing over briefly at Charles who nodded, but looked distractedly deep in thought.

"Sleep well, June."

"Good night."

* * *

><p>June took in a deep breath, trying to fill her lungs with air, but found it to be an unusually daunting task. She couldn't tell if it was because the air was unusually hot and thick with moisture, or if it was just tension. The kind of tension she had always felt before the people she lived with now walked into her life.<p>

The hallways were empty, and rightfully so, considering it was almost midnight and everyone was probably deep in sleep from exhaustion from training. But June couldn't sleep. She wasn't particularly tired, which was strange because although she hadn't started her training yet, she always fell asleep rather early. (It was habit from only being allowed about 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night when working at the circus.)

She was making her way to the bathroom down the hall, a towel draped over her arm because she had decided that a quick shower was exactly what she needed right then. She wasn't expecting the door to swing open, just as she reached for the doorknob and nearly knock her over. She wasn't expecting the wave of heat and moisture to pour out of the bathroom so suddenly. And she certainly wasn't expecting a pale, freckly and shirtless Sean in just his boxers to be on the other side of the doorway. His wild red hair looked even more untamed when it was wet, pushed back and out of his face and dripping water down his bare neck and shoulders. And he looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

"Oh, hey June! Not asleep yet?" He asked casually, rubbing his hair dry with his towel before just letting it sit sloppily on top of his head.

"I…" She was stunned into silence. What _was_ it with them and walking in on each other without clothes on? He raised a brow at her before he smirked, and clicked his tongue.

"Jeez, I know I'm pretty but you don't have to stare." He joked playfully, leaning forward so his face was awkwardly close and his cocky grin and freckles and sharp blue eyes were all up in her face. She felt her face flush a deep red before she snapped out of her daze and shook her head.

"You have no shame, Sean Cassidy, just walking around half naked." She shot back, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She refused to give up without a fight, even with the odds stacked against her. He chuckled to himself as he quickly formulated a rebuttal.

"But weren't you doing the same thing back at the CIA base?" He raised a brow crossing his arms and mimicking her posture. She tensed up and reflexively smacked him on the arm, hard. He pulled away from her with a laugh, rubbing his arm where a bright red handprint began to appear.

"That was in the privacy of a dorm! And you're the one who walked in on me." She scowled.

"Hmm, well you're the one who didn't lock the door. How could I have resisted?" He crooned, crossing his arms again and leaning slightly forward. Her face flushed an even deeper red and she busily readjusted the towel on her arm, glaring up at him from behind her glasses.

"Jesus Sean, put on some clothes. And what are you two bickering about? You're so loud." A half awake, mumbling Alex stumbled upon them, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the brightness of the hallway lights.

"Nothing much, June just thinks I'm a total stud." The red head smirked, pulling the towel on his head around his neck like a scarf.

"Shut up, no I don't." She crossed her arms in front of her.

"Do to."

"Do _not_."

"You don't have to be shy, darlin'"

"I'm going to strangle your little red head, Sean."

"Wait…" Alex raised a hand and for whatever reason the two obeyed, silencing themselves and turning their heads to look at him. Their facial expressions contrasted with each other's quite nicely, Sean's amused, and June's annoyed. Alex blinked, glancing to the side at the wall paper and then finally turned back to face them.

"You walked in on June half-naked?" He raised a brow at him, and Sean laughed. "When was that?"

"What the hell is going on?" A door creaked open and a lazy eyed and messy haired Raven shuffled out into the hall, running her fingers through her blond locks. She glared at the three and lifted her finger, pointing to each of them.

"Go to bed or shut up before I murder each one of you and bury you in the back yard." She turned around and slammed the door shut hard enough to make them jump. Alex shrugged and turned to return to his room while Sean laughed to himself, rubbing his hair with the towel one more time before he pulled it off and playfully dropped it on June's head.

"Hey-!"

"Have a good shower!" He chirped, and he disappeared back into his room before she could protest.

"Che." June yanked the towel off her head, holding it gingerly between her thumb and index finger.

"Stupid Sean." She muttered, but she found herself fighting back a little smile. Stepping into the steamy bathroom, she carelessly tossed the towel into the hamper and turned to face the mirror. The brunette wiped her hand across it, leaving behind a streak of clear mirror and took off her glasses, staring at the blurred reflection. She leaned in, tilting her head to the side so the features of the figure's face became clearer.

'_Maybe I _should_ get rid of these glasses…'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_Harharhar, second ability revealed. June is semi telepathic, she can partially access a person's brain, but is unable to access the cerebrum, and thus unable manipulate their conscious thoughts and memories and yaddayadda. I'm not a neurologist or a doctor so sorry if I get a few things wrong! Bear with me here! Haha. Anyways, thank you guys all soso much for the reviews and the favs and the alerts and for reading in general, you guys make me so happy. And remember, **reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome in my book! :D**_


	8. VIII: Sleep

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of its characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

* * *

><p>"Sean, don't put napkin shreds in Hank's milk." Charles scolded from behind his wall of the morning newspaper. He didn't even lower it from his face, buried in some article about a newly discovered species of fish. Sean froze, his head turning simultaneously with Hank who gave him a confused look. Sean grinned innocently and rapidly reseated himself in his chair with a scoff, a bit disappointed his prank didn't go through.<p>

"Where're Alex and June?" Raven asked in between spoonfuls of her breakfast, rolling her eyes at the red head.

"I'm here," The blond haired boy slipped in right on time, sporting a gray cut off shirt and dark basketball shorts. He took an empty seat next to Hank at the far end of the table, peeking into his waiting glass of milk with a raised brow.

"What's this stuff in my milk? Are these napkin pieces?" He lifted the glass, tilting it slightly towards him as everyone turned to look at Sean. Charles lowered his paper, giving the red head an amused look that didn't exactly scold him as much as it encouraged his behavior.

"What?" Sean shrugged innocently, turning his attention to the pancakes in front of him, doing a poor job of feigning obliviousness.

"Sean, stop trying to play pranks on people." Erik chastised, rising to his feet and taking his empty plate and glass with him. He dropped the dirty silverware into the sink, and excused himself from the meal.

"I'm going to go train."

"Mmm-!" Charles mumbled something as he lowered his glass from his face, waving for Erik to wait a moment while he swallowed the rest of his milk. "Today's your day off, Eric."

Eric tilted his head at Charles, giving him a look that seemed like Charles had just told him a good knock-knock joke.

" I don't take days off." Erik nodded to everyone with a polite smile and departed, leaving Charles with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "That man… He doesn't know when to stop."

"Good morning everyone." June shuffled in, dodging Erik as he nodded to her when they passed each other in the doorway. Her long brown hair was tossed up into a bun on top of her head, her glasses sitting on her head instead of her nose. Most noticeable though, were the dark circles around her eyes. Charles watched her seat herself next to Sean with concern.

"June, are you alright? You look tired." Charles raised a brow at her when she turned and looked at him absently mindedly.

"Hmm? Yeah, just haven't been sleeping too well lately," She said with a halfhearted laugh, scratching the back of her head.

"Hey! If today's our day off, are we allowed to go into town?" Raven piped up with an excited smile. Everyone turned to look at her, the thought hadn't crossed any of their minds and now that it had been brought up, everyone turned their head towards Charles, eyes widening for approval.

He choked on his drink, setting his glass down as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Well I-" He paused, thinking about it for a moment before he shrugged with a sigh, "I don't see why not…"

"Then it's settled, we're going shopping." Raven clapped her hands, pushing her chair back before standing up. She glanced at the clock on the wall before turning back to the rest of the mutants.

"Everybody down in front in twenty minutes!"

* * *

><p>"It looks like it might rain today…" Hank muttered, adjusting his glasses as he looked up towards the cloudy sky. Raven shoved him playfully, clicking her tongue and shaking her head.<p>

"Don't jinx it," She sighed contently, staring up at the sky as well and earning a faint blush and a sheepish smile from Hank. June smirked at the back of their heads from where she sat on the ledge of a short stone wall by Alex and Charles.

"Hm, Hank undoubtedly has a crush on your little Raven, Charles." June remarked, tilting her head and glancing at the telepath. Charles turned slightly to her, giving her a pseudo incredulous look which earned a laugh from both of the young mutants beside him.

"Really? Goodness, it completely escaped my notice."

"Where's Sean?" Alex asked, glancing at the watch on his wrist. They were all waiting for him, all of them gathered in front of the house, minus a metalbender and that one screeching red head.

"Late, no doubt. We'll give him 30 seconds and we'll get in the car without him." Raven chirped, as she spun on her heels away from Hank and approached everyone else with the shy scientist trailing quietly behind her.

"Who's driving?" June asked, crossing her arms in front of her. She certainly did not have a driver's license nor the knowledge of how to operate a car.

"I will!" Raven offered with a cheerful grin, only to be shot down.

"No, you will not. I will be driving." Charles shook his head, crossing his arms in front of him as well. He arched an amused brow at Raven when she pouted.

"Alright, 30 seconds are up, everyone in the car." The telepath ushered the younger mutants towards the black car, already started and waiting for passengers to board it. It was small regular passenger car, a lot like the one that June had been brought to the CIA base in. When they stepped up to it, no one got in except for Charles in the driver's seat, and Raven in the passenger's.

"I'm not sitting in the middle." June shook her head in defiance. Her legs were way too long; her knees would just be cramped up against the box between the two front seats.

"Alex, you go in the middle, you're the shortest." She nudged him on with a grin, earning a frown from the shorter boy.

"Shut it, I can still beat you up." Alex muttered as he crawled into the back seat after Hank stumbled in with a quiet chuckle. Just as June was about to step in, a quick lithe body slipped in front of her and plopped down into her seat with a satisfied grin. Sean grinned up cheekily at June, pushing his wild red locks out of his face. Her jaw dropped, and the corners of her mouth quickly tugged down into a frown.

"You can sit on my lap!" The red head laughed, patting his lanky legs. June rolled her eyes, and nudged him to move over, causing everyone in the back seat to scoot over until they could fit everyone in. They were all skinny enough, it wasn't extremely comfortable, but they all fit. Charles turned around in his seat with a smile, shaking his head at his students. Both Alex and June were pouting, Hank staring blankly out of the window already, and Sean was just grinning, his face a little red and out of breath from having ran outside.

"Off we go then." Raven patted the dashboard with her hand, prompting Charles to turn back around and turn the car from parking into forward.

"Don't be mad, June," Sean nudged June playfully, getting her attention when she had turned to look out the window. She turned to look at him with the frown still plastered on her face.

"I'm not mad."

"You look mad."

"_Well_, I'm _not._" She insisted with a scowl that didn't match her words.

"Okay then." He chirped all too brightly, leaning lightly against her before she nudged him with a frown.

"I'm going to kick you, Sean."

"You guys bicker like a married couple."

"Shut up, Raven." They both said in unison, earning a shrug from the blond and chuckles from Charles and Alex. (Hank was too caught up staring out the window.)

It had only been about 10 minutes into the car drive and even with the radio on, and the conversation going on around her, June couldn't help but notice her eyelids get heavier and heavier. She yawned into her hand, blinking the tears it brought away. Everything was a haze, unfocused and blurry as she felt her eyelids slowly begin to shut on her. She didn't bother struggling or pushing the hand away that reached over her shoulder and pulled her against the shoulder it belonged to. Instead she let her eyes shut slowly, resting her head on the shoulder, faintly aware of the scent of shampoo and the musk of light cologne and the way the shoulder was the perfect height for her tired and heavy head. She felt her glasses being lifted off her face and placed in her lap when a familiar voice whispered gently and quietly ushering her off into a heavy slumber.

"Go to sleep, June."

"Is she asleep?" Charles asked, glancing at Sean from the rear view mirror. Sean smiled and subtly nodded, not wanting to disturb the sleeping girl on his shoulder.

"Yeah, she is."

Charles nodded to himself, turning his eyes back onto the road with a smile.

"That's good; she'll get a nice half hour nap."

* * *

><p>"Wake up sleepyhead. We're here." June's eyelids suddenly flickered open, her eyes wide with surprise as she sat up abruptly. Her head collided with another's, earning a sharp yelp of pain from both of them.<p>

"J-jesus Sean, why would you put your head there?" June sputtered, rubbing the side of her head as she pressed herself against the car door and away from the redhead, her face reddening by the second. He clutched his nose, doubled over in pain before he looked back up at her from the corner of his eye. He looked angry for a brief moment before it quickly melted into a smile and then into a laugh as he shook his head, sitting upright.

"Damn, your head is hard. I think you broke my nose." He joked, pulling his hands away from his face to check for blood.

"S-sorry." June stuttered, quickly turning her head away and wrenching the door open, stumbling out onto the sidewalk. She patted the nonexistent dust off her lap, straightening her hair and pushing it out of her face. Everyone else stepped out of the car, stretching their limbs as they glanced around, taking the scenery in.

This part of town looked like it had been trapped in time 200 years ago, the streets made of brick and the windows ad buildings of shops covered in vines that had climbed around the stone buildings. The streets were littered with shoppers filing in and out of boutiques, hands already full of shopping bags despite it only being 10 in the morning.

"Alrighty! Time to get you a new wardrobe." Raven snuck up behind June, looping her arm around the brunette's and dragging her along down the street and into the closest store, leaving the boys to follow them.

Ten hours, eleven stores, fourteen shopping bags and two boys with tired arms later, the remaining four of them had unanimously decided to get dinner. (Hank and Charles had escaped into an old dusty bookstore that only they seemed to be interested in.)

"You can hardly fit all these bags under the table." Alex muttered, shaking his head with a quiet chuckle to himself. Raven only gave him a stern look and kicked him gently under the table, earning a yelp from the blond boy.

"You can't help it when you're trying to fix a wardrobe disaster like June's." She raised a brow, smirking at her friend next to her in the booth.

"Hey, I can't help it you know." June played along, smirking to herself as she studied the menu. She shifted in her seat, pulling the shirt she'd changed into a little higher up on her torso. (Raven forced it on her.) She leaned back in her seat, adjusting her jeans on her hips and crossing her arms over her torso.

"Are we ready to order?" A tall and rather handsome waiter approached the table with a smile, pulling his notepad out of his apron.

"I'm Andrew, and I'm going to be your waiter tonight for you guys and you _lovely_ ladies." His brown eyes paused at June, looking her up and down. She remained completely oblivious, but no one else at the table was. Alex raised a brow, glancing up at Raven who gave him a shrug. Sean glared a hole through his menu, his eyes shifting upwards every once in a while between June and Andrew.

"And what'll you guys have tonight?" he asked, his eyes only leaving June briefly to glance at everyone else.

"I'll just have the pasta." June said, lowering the menu onto the table and leaning against it, smiling politely up at the waiter. Yup, still oblivious. Sean pressed his lips thin together, setting his menu down on the table loud enough to make everyone jump and earn the attention of the other diners around them.

"I'll have the pasta too." He declared, glaring up challengingly at their waiter. His fists were clenched and his jaw tight, forcing a smile that didn't look very pleasant. Andrew wasn't the least bit phased and he simple nodded silently, jotting their order down.

"I'll have this soup." Raven chirped, pointing to an item on her menu and earning a nod from him.

"And for you?" The waiter gestured to Alex, who furrowed his brow, deep in thought and stroking his invisible beard. It wasn't until Sean nudged him under the table with his knee that he clumsily made his order and earned a final nod from Andrew who promptly left to place their order.

"Jesus Sean, I was thinking. You gotta give a guy some time to think." Alex feigned a punch, causing Sean to back up into the corner with a sheepish grin.

"Jeez, did you see the way he was looking at you? And with your granny glasses too." Raven nudged June who had gone back to reading the stand up menus on the table.

"Huh?" June slowly turned to look at the blond with a bewildered look, ignoring the poorly masked jab at her glasses. "What're you talking about?"

"Oh my god, she's oblivious." Alex laughed, putting his head down on the table with a thud and earning a light smack on the top of his head from Raven.

"About what?" June asked innocently, glancing at all of them and searching for an answer in their expressions.

"He thought you were _hot_. I don't blame him." Sean smirked and leaned forward, jabbing a finger in her face. She swatted him away and shook her head.

"You're being ridiculous."

"Look, he's looking over here." Raven reached over without turning, shaking June's arm to get her attention.

"You guys, seriously." June pulled her arm away, her face getting red when she accidentally made eye contact with him, earning a smirk and a 'sup' nod from the waiter. She sighed, half standing as much as the built in table in the booth allowed her.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick." June muttered, nudging Raven to get up so she could get out.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Raven asked as June shuffled out into the aisle and nearly into another table. She shook her head, waving her blond friend off.

"No, it's fine." June insisted, nudging Raven back into her seat before quickly turning her face away and slipping away from her friends. She could feel her face getting awfully red as she lifted her hands up to cover her cheeks in embarrassment. She quickly slipped away to the ladies room, tucked away in a short hallway in the corner of the restaurant and away from diners' views. It was empty inside and she had stood in front of the mirror and taken a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She didn't want to blow her cool. She just wasn't used to getting attention like this.

'_Snap out of it June, you're acting like a 12 year old._' She thought, lifting her hands up to her face and covering her cheeks again. She shook her head at her reflection, turned and swung the door open, stepping out into the hallway and nearly running someone else over.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" June glanced up quickly, locking eyes with an oddly familiar pair. "Oh, it's you- uh, waiter."

He chuckled, shaking his head as a smirk crossed his face.

"Just call me Andrew." He tucked a circular tray under his arm, and leaned against the wall in her way, looking down at her with his best smile. "Say, you don't have a boyfriend do you?"

"Hu-What? No!" June crossed her arms and glared at him incredulously, giving him a disgusted look. She shook her head and began to step past him, but he shuffled back a bit and slid himself in her way.

"Then how about a date with me, hmm?"

"No." She automatically responded, crossing her arms tighter in front of her. "Now if you'll get out of my wa-"

"Oh come on, don't be like that." He stepped closer, prompting her to shuffle backwards as well, her body beginning to tense up.

"I _said no_." June suddenly shoved past him, making it only half a step away before he reached out and grabbed her by the arm. She spun around, grabbing his hand and trying to pry it off of hers as he pulled her closer to him.

"Come on baby, it'll just be one night."

"Let go!"

"Hey! Leave her alone you asshole!" Both of them spun towards the dining room where a red head stomped into the hallway, unfazed by the stares he got from other customers. He stalked right up to the two, not looking for a second at June, his eyes locked onto his target as he gently slipped past her and suddenly and all too quickly a fist connected with a jaw and Andrew stumbled backwards and into a stack of empty crates, knocking them over and taking them down with them.

"Sean!" June gasped, her hands flying to her face in sudden horror.

"Come on, we're leaving." Sean's hands wrapped themselves around her wrist a little too tightly, pulling her out of the hallway, into the dining hall and right out of the restaurant itself.

"Wait! Wait!" June reached for the sleeve of his shirt, tugging it gently and prompting him to stop and turn around to look at her. His face was red and he had a scowl on his face and June didn't dare to tease him about it. In fact she was still registering what had just happened, it hadn't quite clicked because it happened so fast.

"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you right?" He looked down, taking her thin wrist into his hands and examining it for injuries.

"I'm fine." She looked up at him and he looked down at her and for a brief moment they both found themselves unable to look away.

"Your eyes are really blue." June whispered just loud enough so no one could hear but him. And he suddenly pulled away, releasing her hands and rubbing his eyes with his.

"Sorry." He apologized, and she tilted her head at him in confusion.

"Hey! What the heck did you do, Sean?" Raven and Alex clumsily exited the restaurant with their shopping bags in their arms. (Though Alex was carrying most of them.)

"We were just asked to leave…" Raven crossed her arms in front of her, tapping her foot in expectation.

"I uh- I hit someone…"

"SEAN!" Raven and Alex both cried, though Alex sounded a lot more excited about it than she did.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Raven gave him a disbelieving look.

"I wasn't." Sean meekly responded, rubbing his throbbing fist with his other hand and looking a lot like a kid who was being scolded for drawing on the walls with crayons.

"H-he was helping me!" June piped up, earning a strange look from the two blonds and a surprised one from Sean.

"He uh, he grabbed me by the arm so Sean punched him." June pathetically tried to explain, hoping it was enough. But judging from the looks they gave her, it didn't seem to be sufficient. Raven suddenly shook her head and tossed the whole subject of the situation out into the trash.

"Well Charles and Hank are waiting for us in the car anyways." She said, nodding towards a black car parked along the side of the street where two silhouettes sat inside and were in the middle of a deep discussion. "Let's go home and eat."

"Well, I guess we won't be eating at that restaurant anymore." Alex mumbled sarcastically, shoving some bags in Sean's direction. He clumsily accepted them, and both he and June made sure to walk slightly away from the group and each other to hide their red faces.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _HI GUYSSSSS! Sorry I've been missing, I've been super busy lately! D: But thank you all so much for the favs and the reviews, they really motivate me and make me superduper happy! Thank you guys sooooo much, I love you all! 3 **And don't forget to review or leave me some constructive criticism! (:**_


	9. IX: It's a date, then

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of its characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

* * *

><p>"You know, you're very lucky that young man didn't press charges on you." Charles crossed his arms in front of him, looking Sean in the eye with a frown that creased his forehead and brow in disappointment. Erik sat on the sidelines in an old rocking chair, tilting back and forth with his ankle resting on his knee, watching in a solemn silence, as if he was deep in thought.<p>

"Yeah, I know." Sean mumbled under his breath, looking down at his beat up sneakers, and his long pale fingers, tangled anxiously among each other. There was a light bruise on his knuckles, probably from punching the waiter. He looked up at Charles shyly, his usual boisterous behavior far from present.

"However," Charles sighed, his arms dropping to his side as he let down the façade of anger.

"If you hadn't stepped in, god knows what would have happened," The telepath smiled appreciatively at the red head, earning a spontaneous grin from him. Erik rose to his feet as Charles stepped past him, walking up to Sean with a serious look on his face. The younger mutant swallowed, forcing a nervous smile at the metal bender.

"Good job," Erik whispered when Charles was out of earshot, patting roughly him on the shoulder. Sean grinned in delight until Erik placed a heavy and commanding hand on his shoulder.

"Just don't do it again." His smile had suddenly turned threatening, and with a nod to the ginger, he stepped past him and followed Charles out into the hall, leaving the red head with an overwhelming feeling of relief and a moment to collect his wits before returning to his friends. He let out a long sigh through his mouth, curled up in a coy smile as he stretched his arms over his head, gazing out through the large windows of the library that, as far as he knew, was usually occupied exclusively by the professor or by Hank.

"Oh, and Sean," Charles stepped back into the room momentarily; the door creaking as he gently pushed it open.

"Huh?"

"Hank's designed something special for you, come up to the top floor by the bedrooms in 5 minutes to test it out."

Sean raised a brow at the telepath, but didn't receive an answer as much as a sly smile from him.

"I think you'll like it."

* * *

><p>"Now, you're <em>sure<em> that this _will _work?" Sean looked up at Hank doubtfully, holding his arms out as him and Charles secured the contraption from his shoulders to his wrists. The others watched, leaning against the wall, looking no less confident then the red head, but much more amused than him.

"Well," Hank began, "Anything is possible. I based the design-"

"Hank, stop talking." Charles interrupted with a brief glance at the taller and much more awkward boy, and getting an apologetic look from him.

"Come on." Charles, gave Sean a reassuring pat on the shoulder and lead him down the hallway, into a room, and right up to the window. June followed, noticeably more curious about the wing contraption than the other mutants who simply made their way to the next room's window to watch.

"Now remember, scream as loud as you can." The telepath said, leaning out the window as Sean hesitantly swung his lanky legs over the other side, sitting on the edge of the window.

"You need the sound waves to be supersonic, catch them at the right angle and they should carry you." Hank continued from Charles's beginning, leaning out the window to peer over the edge as well. Sean tilted his head and looked at him with a disbelieving smile.

"'They should carry me.'" Hank nodded in response as Sean turned to look at Charles. "That's reassuring."

"Don't be a big baby, you'll be fine." June leaned against the wall by the window, glancing out of it briefly and briefly feeling glad that she wasn't subject to having to jump out of a window to test out a pair of wings. Flying, how ridiculous.

"You're not the one jumping out of a window." Sean tilted his head in gesture to her, trying to make a point but only earning a slightly apologetic but mostly entertained smile from the girl.

"Good luck." Charles patted Sean on the shoulder one more time before he and Hank pulled their heads out of the window and back into the room as Sean said a silent prayer.

"And don't forget to scream." Charles and June both added in unison. They stepped back and watched as Sean nervously spread his arms out and slowly leaned forward. June could've sworn she could pinpoint the exact moment when everyone realized that a certain red head was going to be in for a sore impact with the bushes below. There was a brief yelp, and then the muted echo of a body falling on top and through the bushes.

"Oh god." June dashed to the window, leaning over the edge and peering down to see outline of a body in the bushes, and hints of a gray tracksuit among the green leaves.

"Are you okay?" She called out, worrying brimming her voice. Charles and Hank looked at each other. There was a brief moment of worry that rushed through all of them, momentarily interrupting their laughter as they waited for a reply.

Silence.

And then a weak, mumbled, "No." and they all breathed a sigh of relief and laughed.

* * *

><p>"Owwwwww!" Sean pulled away batting her hands away from his face. "It hurts!"<p>

"Of course it does, stop squirming," June crossed her arms, giving him a look from behind her glasses. She pushed them off her face, leaving them on the top of her head as she leaned closer again, rubbing alcohol soaked cloth held threateningly in her hand.

"Be gentle," Sean whined, one bandaged hand gripping the edge of the table in tension. The brunette noticed this, and raised a brow at him, setting a hand on top of his.

"Relax, or you're going to make your hand bleed again and I'm not going to bandage it up for you again." She said as he gradually obeyed, but not without a pout on his face. Out of everyone in the house, surprisingly only one person knew how to properly clean and dress wounds. You learned a lot of things, living on your own.

"What did I say?" June frowned when Sean flinched at the slightest contact from the cloth to his raw and bleeding cheek, the cut dangerously close to his eye. "It'll hurt a lot more if it accidentally gets in your eye because you keep moving."

"I know, I know, I can't help it though." The red head continued to whine, more frustrated that June was with himself. "I'm never jumping out of a window again."

"Good idea." She chuckled to herself, pouring a little more rubbing alcohol onto the cloth and earning a grimace from Sean.

"Try not to think about it." She said without looking directly at him, more focused on getting the cap on the bottle with one hand. The red head hesitantly nodded, and tried to sit still, but couldn't help but notice how unusually close the two were. And how they were alone in the kitchen.

"Thanks for this, June." Sean smiled while trying to move as little muscles as possible, and she earned a distracted smile from June who was dabbing away at the cut, unusually calm for someone who was cleaning a wound.

"Don't mention it. Take it as thanks for yesterday, I guess." She said, pretending to be distracted, when she could feel the tips of her ears heating up. Sean smiled.

"Darn, I was hoping I'd be able to hold that against you."

"Hold it against me?"

"Along with other more physical things- OW!" June purposely dabbed a little harder at his comment, an innocent smile on his face and not a word leaving her lips.

"Heh, I can never figure out what's going through your head." Sean slouched slightly in relief when June finally threw the cloth down and began to unwrap a large bandaid.

"Why would you want that?"

"I don't know. You're like a jigsaw puzzle…" He mused, "But with missing pieces."

"That could be offensive you know." She glanced up at him with a humored smile.

"But, see?" He leaned forward, towards and closer to her, "_You_ don't find that offensive. You're so interesting."

"What if I actually am offended?" June didn't inch back, unwilling to give even a fraction of space up.

"But the thing is, you're not." He smiled, his feet kicking back and forth slightly beneath him. And she looked up at him with an unchanged expression before she scoffed and shook her head at him.

"You, Sean Cassidy, are strange."

"Sure. How about a date with me some time?"

She was taken aback by his bluntness.

"What?" She blurted.

"A date. You know; one on one, movie and a dinner perhaps. Whatever you like, of course." He continued to smile at her.

"A date?"

"A date."

Silence.

"Well?"

"Uhhh…"

"So that's a yes."

"I didn't say that." June crossed her arms, an instant flush of red crossing her face.

'_How cute.'_ Sean thought with a grin.

"But you didn't say no." He said, plucking the band aid from her hands and carelessly slapping it over his cut when Alex walked into the room, completely unaware of their conversation.

"We'll discuss the details later, then." Sean winked and rose to his feet before June could even disagree, and was out of the kitchen before it even crossed her mind to stop him. She was speechless.

"What happened?" Alex asked with a raised brow, opening the fridge door in search of food. June turned to him, looking a little tired and a little wary at the same time.

"I don't know, actually."

Alex smirked as he pulled out a carton of milk and poured himself a glass, leaning against the kitchen counter to down it all at once and finish with a satisfied sigh.

"So have you two done it yet?" Her jaw might as well have dropped right through the floor.

"W-what? No! What in the name of god gave you that idea?" She stuttered, her face reddening by the second. Alex shrugged with a smirk and laughed to himself.

"You don't seem far from it."

He got a handful of towels to the face.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Hi guys! Sorry for the absence lately, I'm back now and will get back to relatively normal updating! (: Thanks and shit tons of love to EVERYBODY who reviewed and fav'd or alerted or whatever. I seriously love you guys for it, like, no lie. Classes start soon, but I could always use something to procrastinate with! Haha _

_**And once again, reviews, suggestions and/or constructive criticism would make me a happy little girl! (:**_


	10. X: Nervous

**Standing Trial for Your Sins**

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own X-men or any of its characters in any way whatsoever, though June LaClaire is an original character._

* * *

><p>"Focus, June, focus."<p>

She tried, she really was trying. Her fists were clenched tight and trembling, nails digging so sharply into her palm that it broke the skin. Her head pounded, the rippling pins and needles sensation rushed through her whole body and it seemed like she had felt light headed for a life time. Her eyes were squinted, so focused on the piece of junk car in front of her that everything else became a blur until she shut her eyes tight, picturing the car in her head.

Charles stood on the side, hands tucked behind his back as he watched her carefully, making sure she wouldn't push herself too far. And then a low creak of metal caught his attention and his head darted to the obsolete car. The front of it slowly and steadily lifted itself from the ground, and soon after the back followed suit. And Charles' head darted back to June, her mind so in focus that it seemed like she was in another world completely set apart from reality.

"Fantastic!" Charles grinned wildly, pacing up to her with a proud smile. She didn't hear him, her head tilted forward as if quietly trying to ignore the telepath. When Charles placed his hand on her shoulder, her eyes flickered open in surprise, her concentration abruptly broken.

"Gah!" June's eyes fluttered shut when a sharp pain shot through her head with all the ferocity of a rusty nail being hammered into a block of wood. Her hands flew to her head reflexively, doubling over in pain.

"June!" Charles reached out to support her but found his arms, and the rest of his body, to be a hundred times heavier than they were a moment ago. The sound similar to that of crumpling foil caught Charles' attention for just a moment before he pushed it aside and forced his arms up, fighting the increased strength of gravity over his body, and reaching out frantically to try and snap June out of it. Finally unable to fight gravity any longer, Charles crumpled to his knees with a sharp yelp of pain as his body struck the asphalt.

"June! Control yourself!" Charles called out frantically, trying to pick himself up off the ground.

"I'm sorry, Charles! I-I'm trying!" June stammered, her voice strained and weak from pain. She clutched her head in pain, slowly sinking to her knees as she felt herself quickly losing control of her mutation.

"What's going on?" A voice called out from a short distance away. Charles tilted his head in its direction, relieved to see Erik and Sean rushing over from the fields where they trained. June looked up as well, relief suddenly flooding through her.

"Erik!" June stumbled away from Charles and towards the other two, dizzy in pain and in a cold sweat. "Erik, knock me out!"

"What?" Sean blurted as they both got closer, feeling the effects of her mutation begin to weigh them down. Erik quickly got the message, and rushed up to her, feeling the strain on every inch of his body. He showed only a moment's hesitation before with the flick of his wrist to the back of her neck, her body crumpled to the ground and the weight on their shoulders vanished into thin air.

Charles gingerly picked himself off the ground as Sean and Erik rushed to pick an unconscious June off the grass.

"What happened?" Sean asked as he dropped to his knee by Erik who was setting her limp body on the ground, her torso leaning against his knee.

"I-I don't know. She completely lost control of herself." Charles looked shaken and exasperated, running his hand through his hair. His eyes moved to the car, well what remained of it. It had become a crumpled, unrecognizable mess under the weight of June's mutation, gone completely unnoticed in the commotion.

"It looks like her mutation's got a lot of potential." Erik raised a brow at the crumpled sheets of metal. Sean's furrowed his brow, pushing his hair out of his face, matted to his forehead in sweat. His jaw dropped.

"Was that the junky car from out back?"

"Yes, it was."

"Holy shit."

"Sean, watch your mouth." Charles scolded.

"Let's get her inside first." Erik said, adjusting himself beneath June's weight, and preparing to lift her up off the ground.

"Wait." Sean put his hand on Erik's shoulder, causing the older man to pause. "I'll carry her."

Erik gave Sean an amused look that seemed to go unnoticed to the red headed boy. Sean kneeled by June, draping her arms over the back of his shoulders and pulling her gently onto his back and slipping his arms underneath her knees.

"What? I don't want you geezers to throw out your backs, you need to train us." Sean smirked, trying to play off the looks they gave him. He readjusted June on his back and began trudging back towards the mansion. Erik and Charles exchanged knowing looks before following after the red head.

* * *

><p>"No… Mmmm Alex put down that grilled cheesemmm… you jack ass…"<p>

June struggled to open her eyes, her eyelids and the rest of her body felt like lead and her head literally pounded in its skull. She became faintly aware of quiet muttering over the ringing in her ears and the ache in her body and tilted her head towards the source of the sound, surprised to find a sleeping red head draped uncomfortably over a creaking wooden chair. His hair was tossed over his face and his head tilted forward, his arms and legs dangled lazily over the chair. And he was muttering to himself in his sleep.

A smile found itself onto her face without her noticing it as she pulled the blankets from over her legs and swung them over the edge of the bed. She took a moment to try and remember what happened and why she was in bed at 8 at night and more importantly, why Sean was asleep in her chair in her room. The memories slowly came back to her, and it did her headache no good as she pressed her index and middle finger to her temple with a cringe.

She looked up again, eying Sean and his quiet muttering and soft snoring when she noticed the warmth bubbling up from some little crevice deep inside her. Silently stunned, she shook her head and pushed herself over the edge of her bed and to the floor. Upon contact with the cold wooden floor her knees folded beneath her, and she fell on her butt with a thump and a muffled yelp. Her head quickly darted up, hoping she hadn't woken Sean. The red head jumped alert, leaping to his feet at the blink of an eye before his eyes darted down to the girl at his feet, rubbing her lower back with a grimace on her face.

"Shit, are you okay?" He dropped to a knee by her as she nodded.

"Yeah, I just tripped over my own feet." She lied with a sheepish smile. He scoffed under his breath with a smile, looking for a moment, endlessly relieved. He held his hand out to her with a smile, offering to help her up. With only a moment's hesitation, June put her hand in his as he lifted himself from the ground and pulled her up with him. A little too close. The brunette clumsily bumped into him, her breath hitching in her throat when their faces came a little too close for comfort. She swallowed, trying to pull her eyes away from his sharp, vivid blue ones, but found herself unable to. Sean blinked, his eyes traveling from her eyes down the elegant slant of her nose and settled on her lips. He lifted his hand up to her face when she didn't pull away his fingers tracing the line of her jaw, slightly trembling, just enough for her to feel how nervous he suddenly became.

_Why did he get like this around her_, he thought.

"S-sean…" June's voice fell to a hushed whisper, and he could suddenly feel how close she was to him, feel her breath on his skin. He shuffled a daring distance closer, surprising her as she shuffled back at the same time and in a tangled mess of limbs and a sharp yelp of surprise from the both of them, they tumbled backwards and onto the bed. The red head hovered above her as she pressed herself against the bed, her legs stuck between his and the hand he still held, pinned to the bed by her head. They stared in a mutual silence.

And then the door creaked open, letting in a flood of light and they both stiffened, Sean quickly rolling off of her as she promptly shot up to a sitting position. Hank stood at the door with his hand still on the knob, jaw hanging wide open in nervous shock, the scientist muttered a brief apology and quickly closed the door behind him as he stepped back out into the hallway.

The two of them looked at each other with blank and bewildered expressions on their faces, but in an instant they noticed the laughter boiling in the pit of their stomachs and they began to crack up, throwing their head backs and falling on to the bed in a fit of laughter. When they began to calm down, June turned her head towards Sean, watching as a few giggle still escaped from his lips, watching the way his lips curled up into a smile and the way he squinted his eyes, tearing up in laughter and the way his red hair fell on his face and the sharpness of his jaw and the freckles on his skin. She felt her heart doing a dance routine in her ribcage. And as she tilted her head back to face the ceiling again, her shoulders trembling in silent laughter, she felt herself getting pulled further and further away from the figurative and emotional lonely prison she had confined herself in.

Sean looked over at her, his stomach and face sore from laughter as he reached over, placing his hand on hers with a potent grin.

"Let's go eat."

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><p><strong>AN:** _Hi everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to write this chapter! I ran into a bit of a writer's block and with school and life getting in the way, I've had to put off this chapter for a while, but here you are now! Thanks again for all the reviews and the favorites and alerts! You guys know I love you alllll. Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review! 3_


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